Lucrative Business Investment Opportunities in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Endless variety of exotic flora and fauna

With over 86% of the area under tropical rainforests, Andaman and Nicobar Islands offer attractive opportunities for the wood-based industries.

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union Territory of India, with Port Blair as its Capital. It is located in the Indian Ocean, in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal. There are 836 Islands/Islets/Rocky Outcrops in the territory, of which only 31 are permanently inhabited. The Andamans and Nicobar islands, are separated by a channel (the Ten Degree Channel) about 150 km wide. Added together, the total land area of the territory is approximately 8,249 km². Hindi and English are the official languages of the islands. Bengali is the dominant and most spoken language, with 26% of the population speaking Bengali.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been declared as two of the 218 endemic bird areas in the world. As many as 270 species and sub-species of birds have been reported existing in these islands, 106 of them being endemic. Positioned on the one end of the Malacca Strait, sharing maritime borders with Thailand, Mynamar and Indonesia, the islands are at commercially strategic point for trade and commerce. Nicobar is equidistant from Colombo to the southwest and Port Klang (Malaysia) and Singapore to the southeast, and positioned close to the East-West international shipping corridor, through which a very large part of the world’s shipping trade passes.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a total cultivated area of over 55,598 Ha, with major crops including coconut, paddy, banana and areca nut. 14,491 Ha area of A&N Islands becomes the first large contiguous territory to be conferred with organic certification under ‘Large Area Certification’ scheme.

The natural vegetation of Andaman & Nicobar island comprises of tropical rain (evergreen) and littoral and swamp forests. About 2/3 of the Andaman is under native forest and agriculture is confined only to specific areas around habitations, where the dominant crop grown is rice. The whole belt surrounding the islands are biodiversity hotspots.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a major tourist attraction with several beaches that offer water sporting and adventure activities such as snorkeling and scuba diving. The coastal belt surrounding these Islands is the abode of one of the richest coral reef ecosystems in the world.

Tourism

Andaman and Nicobar Islands hold some of the most pristine beaches and forests in the world, attracting tourists and naturalists from across the globe

About 86% of the Islands’ total area is under forests (Reserve + Deemed + Mangroves + Wetlands) and holds about 2000 sq. km of coral reefs.

Plenty of people from various parts of the world visit here every year to explore the charm and grandeur of the serene islands, to enjoy the unique culture of these islands, and to do Scuba Diving.

Radhanagar Beach in Havelock Island, A&N has often been awarded the Best Beach in Asia and the 7th position in the annual Travellers' Choice Awards for 2024 released by Tripadvisor, the travel platform as well as the silver award for 'Best Wedding Destination in India’ at Outlook Traveller Awards 2023.

Fisheries

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands have vast potential for fisheries development in view of its Coastal length of about 1,962 km and Continental shelf area of 35,000 sq. km

The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around these islands is about 6,00,000 sq.km with an estimated Fishery potential is 2.4 Lakh Tonnes which is 4.5% of our country’s total Fishery Potential. The state has around 169 Fishing villages and for augmentation of Fish production and to harvest the untapped fishery resources without effecting the fragile ecosystem, the Department of Fisheries, A&N Administration is implementing Various schemes/programmes.