Centre finalises Rs 5,000 cr-defence plans at Andaman & Nicobar to counter China’s expansion in Indian Ocean
The development plan at the Andaman & Nicobar islands would allow additional troops, warships, aircraft and drones to be stationed there, in a bid to challenge China’s expansion in the Indian Ocean region
New Delhi/Port Blair: In a bid to counter China's growing footprint in the Indian Ocean region, India has almost finalised a plan of military infrastructure development, worth Rs 5-650 crores, for the strategically situated Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As per the Times of India, the development plan at the archipelago would allow additional troops, warships, aircraft, drones, and missile batteries to be stationed there, in a bid to challenge China’s expansion in the area.
The 10-year-long infrastructure "roll on" plan for the Andaman and Nicobar Command was chalked up and finalised after extended top-level discussions in the defence establishment, the daily quoted sources as saying. The Andaman and Nicobar Command is India's only theatre command which has assets and manpower of the three wings of the armed forces - Army, Navy, Indian Airforce - and Coast Guard under one operational commander.
A source told the daily that initially the estimated cost of the plan was Rs 10,000 crores but later it was decided that the land that was already available or was under acquisition by the ANC would mainly be utilised for the plan. The source said, "The plan has also been reviewed by the defence planning committee, which is chaired by national security advisor Ajit Doval, and includes the three service chiefs, among others."
Simultaneously, another detailed plan for 'force accretion" of the armed forces in phases at the ANC by 2027 is also in the pipelines. The proposal under the plan argues for an increase in the manpower and assets in Army at around Rs 5,370 crores, TOI reported.
Sources told the daily that the recent visits of PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the last one month indicated that the government was already working on some of the plans.
The ANC was set up in 2001. However, infighting among the Army, the Navy and the IAF over turf wars, the typical political-bureaucratic delays, a paucity of funds, and a lack of environmental clearances to construct infrastructure affected the development of the ANC over the years, as per the report.