Andaman and Nicobar Islands withdraws call for interest in private sector-led data centre project

Andaman and Nicobar Islands withdraws call for interest in private sector-led data centre project The withdrawal comes even as The Hindu documented that the local Nicobarese population on Great Nicobar Island stated that they were not informed of any such intends for.

Key points

• The locals on GNI are already protesting against the government's proposed ₹91, 000 crore mega-infrastructure project.
• The call for feasibility proposals for the data centre had notably identified certain sea areas around Little Andaman and Great Nicobar Island for this data centre project.
• In a notice issued days after the EoI was published on August 10, the administration remarked that it was withdrawing the EoI with immediate effect "due to administrative reasons".

For context, the locals on GNI are already protesting against the government's proposed ₹91, 000 crore mega-infrastructure project. Photo Credit: ANI.

Meanwhile, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration has withdrawn an Expression of Interest (EoI) it had issued calling for feasibility proposals for a private-sector-led green AI data centre vertical in the islands. In a notice issued days after the EoI was published on August 10, the administration remarked that it was withdrawing the EoI with immediate effect "due to administrative reasons".

Notably, the withdrawal comes even as The Hindu documented that the local Nicobarese population on Great Nicobar Island stated that they were not informed of any such intends for a data centre in the sea areas around GNI. The locals on GNI are already protesting against the government's proposed ₹91, 000 crore mega-infrastructure project.

Notably, the call for feasibility proposals for the data centre had notably identified certain sea areas around Little Andaman and Great Nicobar Island for this data centre project.

Notably, the August 10 EoI inviting these proposals comes even as the administration is holding meetings with local tribal communities on GNI over finalising the draft master plan, first published to the public earlier this year. Interestingly, the draft master plan. It is meant to account for water, power, and connectivity infrastructure for the larger development project on the island, has no mention of a potential green AI/data centre vertical.

In fact, the sea areas identified for feasibility proposals for data centres are along bays that have been marked for development of one of two wildlife corridors (Gandhi Nagar Bay), agriculture, biodiversity tourism, and fish and poultry (Anderson Bay), coastal and business tourism activities (Vijay Nagar Bay), and residential pockets, institutional and administrative buildings (Campbell Bay).

Taken together, the developments around andaman and Nicobar Islands withdraws call for interest in private sector point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.