MUMBAI (AFP) — India’s environmental court has given the go-ahead to the strategically significant Great Nicobar infrastructure project despite widespread concerns of ecological damage to the island in the Andaman Sea.

The National Green Tribunal on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions objecting to the mega project on ecologically sensitive Great Nicobar island, saying “adequate safeguards” had been taken into account.

The infrastructure plan involves building a transshipment port, airport, power plant and a township on the island, located close to the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is looking to pour billions of dollars into connecting the island to global trade routes, after the project was granted initial environmental approvals in 2022.

India’s environment minister last September called it a project of “strategic, defense and national importance” which would transform Great Nicobar into a major hub of maritime and air connectivity in the Indian Ocean region.