Port Blair (Sri Vijaya Puram): Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Dinesh Sharma, has called for a comprehensive roadmap to strengthen industrial infrastructure and align urban development with the Islands’ emerging economic requirements. During a review meeting of the Industries and Urban Development Departments at Lok Niwas, the Lt. Governor directed the departments to prepare a concrete plan for infrastructure and construction requirements in the industrial sector, with emphasis on planned, sustainable and time-bound development.
The meeting, attended by Chief Secretary Gyanesh Bharti, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (APWD), Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Urban Development), Secretary (APWD) and Secretary (Industries), assumes significance as the Administration seeks to expand economic activity while balancing the Islands’ ecological and land constraints.
The focus is expected to include industrial estates, internal roads, power and water supply, drainage, sewage, common facilities, warehousing and other basic infrastructure required to make industrial locations more functional and investment-ready. The Industrial Estate (Allotment and Management) Policy, 2025 already provides for planned zoning of manufacturing and service activities and basic infrastructure such as roads, water, sewage, power and communication facilities.
The review also comes at a time when urban planning is increasingly being linked with the Islands’ long-term economic and infrastructure needs. The Great Nicobar Island Master Plan, for instance, envisages phased development up to 2047, combining trunk infrastructure with physical and social infrastructure and identifying economic drivers beyond tourism.
The Industries Department’s stated vision is to promote sustainable MSME-led economic growth without disturbing the Islands’ ecology, making the proposed industrial-infrastructure blueprint particularly relevant to future employment, local entrepreneurship and investment.
The review could therefore mark a shift towards integrating industrial expansion, urban planning and infrastructure creation rather than treating them as separate development streams.
