Eye on China in Arabian Sea, India plans third Navy base in Lakshadweep

With Minicoy guarding key southern sea lanes, Bitra could provide the Navy a northern anchor in Lakshadweep to monitor vital shipping routes, counter piracy and narcotics trafficking, and keep a closer watch on growing Chinese activity in the Arabian Sea.

In Short

• A July 11 notification triggered a Social Impact Assessment under land law
• Bitra spans 0.105 sq km and housed 271 residents in 2011
• The island lies between Kavaratti and Agatti in northern Lakshadweep

After INS Dweeprakshak in Kavaratti and INS Jatayu in Minicoy, the Indian Navy is set to get a third footprint in the Lakshadweep archipelago -- INS Bitra on Bitra Island.

The Lakshadweep Administration has initiated the process to acquire Bitra, the smallest inhabited island of the 36-island chain, for defence and strategic use.

A notification issued on July 11, 2025 by the Revenue Department under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 marks the beginning of a Social Impact Assessment (SIA).

The stated objective is the “complete transfer of Bitra to defence and strategic agencies”, citing its “strategic location and national security relevance.”

India Today TV assessed the ground situation in Lakshadweep, where difficult air and sea connectivity has slowed development. Bitra, the smallest inhabited island, is spread over just 0.105 sq km and had 271 residents across 105 families in the 2011 Census.

It sits in the northern Lakshadweep, covering a surveillance gap between Kavaratti and Agatti.

With Minicoy in the south keeping watch over the Eight and Nine Degree Channels -- the key trade routes linking the Malacca Strait with the Gulf of Aden and Strait of Hormuz -- Bitra could give the Navy a northern anchor to monitor vital sea lanes, tackle piracy and narcotics trafficking, and keep a closer watch on growing Chinese activity in the Arabian Sea.

If implemented, Bitra will become the third defence establishment after INS Dweeprakshak and INS Jatayu, commissioned on March 6, 2024.

Defence sources maintain the base is needed to "close surveillance gaps in northern Lakshadweep and enhance operational reach" and will also bring jobs, medical and connectivity infrastructure under the Centre's dual-use model - as seen with the planned expansion of Agatti airfield and new airfield at Minicoy integrated with INS Jatayu.

Two years after PM Modi's Jan 2024 visit put Lakshadweep on the tourism map, the coral paradise is fast becoming India's western security grid.

- Ends