Nilam

Nicobar

ODOP: Coconut & Coconut based products
Coconut & CopraFisheriesCoir Products

₹951 cr

of bankable business potential identified by the government in Nicobar.

Source: NABARD PLP 2022-23

1 ready-to-build opportunity

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Nicobar copra & cold-pressed virgin coconut oil unit

Unverified

Nicobar grows lakhs of coconut palms but most fruit ships out as raw nut at low margins. A small mechanised copra and cold-pressed virgin coconut oil unit captures the value-add on-island and reaches mainland D2C wellness buyers via the Port Blair freight route.

Capex
₹12–20 lakh
Payback
2.5 years payback
Risk
Moderate
PMFMEMUDRA

NABARD's plan for Nicobar · PLP 2022-23

₹951 crof bankable credit potential identified by the government

MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises)

₹549 cr

Term loans for agriculture & allied activities

₹134 cr

Housing

₹92 cr

Crop production, maintenance & marketing

₹68 cr

Andaman & Nicobar Islands' NABARD plan projects ₹950.63 crore of bankable priority-sector credit for 2022-23. This is a single UT-wide plan covering all three districts (South Andaman, North & Middle Andaman and Nicobar), so the figures are for the combined islands, not Nicobar on its own.

The money is dominated by MSME at ₹549.32 crore (about 58% of the plan), split into ₹245.70 cr of term loans and ₹303.62 cr of working capital. Farming and allied lines come to ₹238 crore (roughly a quarter of the plan). Because farmland is scarce and shrinking, most agriculture money sits in allied activities rather than crops.

The strongest rural clusters are fisheries (₹38.30 cr), helped by 121 fishermen societies and 46,801 MT of fish; coconut and arecanut plantations (₹27.71 cr) on over 24,000 hectares; and livestock (₹56 cr across goat-pig, poultry and dairy). Food and agro-processing gets ₹19.88 cr even though the islands currently have almost no processing units, so cold storage, packing and processing lines are wide open. Tourism, with new resorts planned under NITI Aayog at Aves, Smith, Long and Ross Islands, is a major growth theme.

The plan flags real hurdles: erratic rainfall and weak irrigation, hard-to-reach islands with poor transport and cold storage, fodder and feed shortages, a ban on tree-felling that starves wood-based units, and shortages of raw materials and skilled labour.

See the plan's recommendations

What the plan promotes

  • Fisheries (marine, inland, brackish water) is the single biggest agriculture term-loan line at ₹38.30 cr, backed by 121 fishermen societies and a UT fish production of 46,801 MT
  • Plantation & horticulture including sericulture projected at ₹27.71 cr; coconut grown on 20,070 ha (112.55 million nuts) and arecanut on 4,335 ha (10,589 MT) are the dominant horticulture crops
  • Livestock term loans total ₹56.15 cr across sheep-goat-piggery (₹23.68 cr), poultry (₹19.67 cr) and dairy (₹13.12 cr); the UT has 64,761 goats and 36,438 crossbred cattle
  • MSME is the largest opportunity at ₹549.32 cr (term ₹245.70 cr + working capital ₹303.62 cr); 1,512 registered units employ ~25,331 people, 83% in the micro category
  • Food and agro processing pegged at ₹19.88 cr, though the UT currently has NIL processing units for rice/flour, spices, dry-fruit, milk chilling and meat, signalling a green-field cluster
  • Tourism is a major thrust with beaches, snorkelling and sea-walking; luxury resorts planned under NITI Aayog at Aves, Smith, Long and Ross Islands

Gaps the plan names

  • Erratic rainfall, non-availability of quality seeds and inputs, and inadequate irrigation infrastructure; only the January-April dry season severely hurts rain-fed crops
  • Difficult terrain and inaccessibility of many islands, with poor transport, cold storage, processing and packaging facilities
  • Fodder shortage for dairy animals and high cost of feed for poultry and other livestock
  • Lack of high-value investment projects in agriculture and allied sectors, weak marketing federations, land-ownership and leasing issues, high labour costs, non-availability of raw materials and skilled labour
  • Need for better water-use efficiency, hi-tech agriculture, rainwater harvesting and stronger extension services with information kiosks and audio-visual aids

Value-chain gaps

Money this district loses today

Raw output sold cheap, value added elsewhere — each gap below is an opening for a local business.

Coconut: raw copra → virgin coconut oil & desiccate

Unverified
Raw 85%Processed 15%

Nicobar's coconut belt mostly ships raw nuts and sun-dried copra off-island at commodity prices. Cold-pressed virgin coconut oil, desiccated coconut and packaged coconut milk command several times the per-nut value and travel far better than the perishable raw nut. A small island processing unit could capture the premium that mainland refiners currently take.

Growth signal

Virgin coconut oil demand is rising sharply in wellness and nutraceutical retail.

Marine catch: raw fish → frozen & vacuum-packed seafood

Unverified
Raw 85%Processed 15%

Island marine fisheries land fish that is sold fresh locally or to traders with little cold-chain handling, so much of the catch fetches low beach-landing prices. Cleaned, graded, frozen and vacuum-packed seafood shipped to mainland and export buyers commands a far higher margin. On-island chilling and packing would let the catch reach premium markets instead of spoiling cheap.

Resources

What this district has

Tap a category to see the facts and figures underneath. Numbers marked unverified are AI-extracted and need a sourcing pass.

Agriculture & natural resources

2 facts

Skills & labour

1 fact

About Nicobar

Nicobar district is one of three districts in the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The district's administrative territory encompasses all of the Nicobar Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean, between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The headquarters of the district is the village of Malacca, located on the island of Car Nicobar.

Source: Wikipedia — Nicobar district

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Nicobar

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