Why is it in the News?

On Wednesday (March 6), Naval Detachment Minicoy will be commissioned as INS Jatayu, an upgraded naval base, marking an important milestone in the Indian Navy’s resolve to incrementally augment security infrastructure at the strategic Lakshadweep Islands.

About INS Jatayu Naval Base:

• The existing Naval Detachment Minicoy, which is under the operational command of the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Lakshadweep), will be commissioned as INS Jatayu.
• A naval detachment has administrative, logistics, and medical facilities.
• INS Jatayu will be upgraded to a naval base with additional infrastructure such as an airfield, housing, and personnel, after obtaining the requisite environmental and other clearances.
• The fragile ecology of the island may pose challenges for the construction but there are plans to construct a new airfield that will be capable of operating both military and civil aircraft.

Significance of INS Jatayu?

• The basing of an independent naval unit with requisite infrastructure and resources will enhance its overall operational capability in the islands.
• The establishment of the base is in line with the government’s focus on comprehensive development of the islands.
• The base will enhance its operational reach, facilitate its anti-piracy and anti-narcotics operations in the western Arabian Sea, and augment its capability as the first responder in the region.
• With the commissioning of INS Jatayu, the Indian Navy will add to its strength on the western seaboard.
• The proposed airfield will allow operations for a range of aircraft, including P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft and fighter jets, and extend the Navy’s reach and operational surveillance capabilities at a time when India is seeking to counter the growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean Region.
• This has an immediate bearing at a time when India’s relations with the Maldives have come under strain since the election of the pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu.

About the Lakshadweep Islands:

• Lakshadweep, ‘a hundred thousand islands’ in Sanskrit and Malayalam, is an archipelago of 36 islands located between 220 km and 440 km from Kochi.
  • The islands, only 11 of which are inhabited, have a total area of only 32 sq km.
• The Lakshadweep are part of a chain of coralline islands in the Indian Ocean that includes Maldives to the south, and the Chagos archipelago farther beyond, to the south of the equator.
  • Given their location in the Indian Ocean, the Lakshadweep are of huge strategic importance to India.
• Minicoy straddles vital Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs) — the world’s main maritime highways — including the Eight Degree Channel (between Minicoy and Maldives) and the Nine Degree Channel (between Minicoy and the main cluster of Lakshadweep islands).
• In consequence, the Lakshadweep Islands are also vulnerable to marine pollution.

Why is it in the News?

PM Modi recently, in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, inaugurated the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands submarine optical fibre connection (KLI-SOFC) project including various developmental projects worth more than Rs 1,150 crore.

Background-Kochi-Lakshadweep Submarine OFC (KLI) Project:

• The need for digitally connecting the Lakshadweep Islands through a high-capacity submarine cable link with the mainland has been felt for some time.
• Earlier, the only means of communication with the Islands was through Satellite medium, which had limited bandwidth capacity and was not able to meet the growing bandwidth demand.
• In the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Cable (KLI) project submarine cable connectivity from Mainland (Kochi) to eleven Lakshadweep Islands namely, Kavaratti, Agatti, Amini, Kadmat, Chetlet, Kalpeni, Minicoy, Androth, Kiltan, Bangaram and Bitra has been extended.
• The project is funded by the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecommunication.
• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was the Project Executing Agency and the work was awarded to NEC Corporation India Pvt Ltd.
• Major activities related to the project include Marine Route Survey, Submarine Cable laying, Civil Construction of CLS stations, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of End Terminals (SLTE).
• Highlights of the KLI Project:
  • Total link distance: 1,868 kilometres.
  • Total cost of project: Rs 1072 crore

???????Benefits of the KLI Project:

• The project will play a significant role in achieving the objective of ‘Digital India’ and ‘National Broadband Mission’ and in rolling out various e-governance projects of the Government of India in Lakshadweep Islands.
• E-Governance, Tourism, Education, Health, Commerce and Industries will get a boost
  • It will also help in further improvement in the standards of living of the people on the Island and will accelerate overall social and economic development in these areas.
• The population of Lakshadweep Islands will be provided high-speed wireline broadband connectivity.
• High-speed broadband will be provided through FTTH and 5G/4G Mobile networks.
• The bandwidth created under this project will be available to all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to strengthen their telecom services in the Lakshadweep Islands.