Centre Approves ₹13,000 Crore Greenfield Dual-Use Airport at Chingen, Great Nicobar Island
The Central government has approved the construction of a ₹13,000 crore greenfield airport at Chingen, near Galathea Bay on the south-eastern coast of Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The facility will serve both civilian aviation and Indian Navy operations, with project cost to be shared between the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The project is expected to be completed within five years.
The approved airport replaces an earlier proposal to expand the existing naval airfield at INS Baaz, the Indian Navy's air station at Campbell Bay. The new greenfield site at Chingen, closer to the western approaches of the Malacca Strait, is considered more strategically suitable for the dual-use requirements envisaged under the Great Nicobar Island Development Project.
The airport forms one of four major infrastructure components under the broader ₹81,000 crore Great Nicobar Island Development Project. The other components include an International Container Transshipment Terminal at Galathea Bay, a 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant, and a new township. The overall project is aimed at developing Great Nicobar into a major maritime and economic hub, while reducing India's dependence on foreign transshipment ports such as Singapore and Colombo.
On the civil aviation side, the airport is planned as a greenfield international facility designed for 4,000 peak hour passengers and an initial annual capacity of 1.35 million passengers by 2040. Defence planners have noted that the airport's location — approximately 40 nautical miles from the East-West international shipping route — will enhance India's maritime domain awareness, military logistics capability, and rapid deployment potential in the Indo-Pacific region.