The Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Admiral D K Joshi (Retired) said the archipelago is poised to become a significant contributor to the Prime Minister's vision for driving self-reliance, innovation and citizen empowerment. He delivered the 30th Colonel Pyara Lal Memorial Lecture on development challenges and imperatives for the islands and set out several government initiatives aimed at economic and strategic transformation. He noted that exploration, maritime infrastructure and targeted investment would underpin the region's emergence as a growth hub. He reported that 63.5 per cent of the six hundred thousand square kilometres (0.6 million, 0.6 mn square kilometres) previously designated as a No-Go Zone for oil had been freed and that the Andaman Basin had been described as having Guyana-like potential which could propel national growth from a four trillion dollar economy toward a 20 trillion dollar economy (20 tn dollars). He said responsible exploration and calibrated investment would be required to harness hydrocarbon potential while managing environmental concerns. He indicated that such resource realisation could materially alter the longer term economic trajectory. He highlighted that Galathea Bay at Great Nicobar has been notified as the thirteenth major port of India and will be developed under a public-private partnership model along with an international container transhipment terminal. He outlined plans to develop the archipelago as a ship repair and shipbuilding hub for the Indo-Pacific and said this strategic use of maritime assets would complement national trade and security objectives. He noted projects related to Great Nicobar including the transhipment terminal, a power plant and a proposed township amounting to Rs 824.5 billion (Rs 824.5 bn) in maritime trade, connectivity and security investments. He identified the proposed investments and infrastructure as a force multiplier that would promote the geo-strategic and economic interests of the nation and reiterated the role of the Islands Development Agency in coordinating development. He said integrated planning for connectivity, environmental safeguards and community welfare would guide implementation. He made the remarks at an event organised by a national defence and security think tank.