Centre Renames Port Blair As Sri Vijaya Puram, Announces Amit Shah

Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that Andaman and Nicobar Island’s capital Port Blair has been renamed as “Sri Vijaya Puram.”

“Inspired by the vision of PM @narendramodi Ji, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as “Sri Vijaya Puram. While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&N Islands’ unique role in the same,” the minister posted on X.

“Andaman & Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history. The island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for our strategic and development aspirations,” he added.

“It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Ji and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar Ji and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation,” Shah added.

Sri Vijaya Puram is the capital city of the Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Great Nicobar Project

The Nicobar Island is in the news over a ₹72,000 crore project by the Centre, which some fear might displace the indigenous Shompen tribe.

Shompens are predominantly uncontacted nomadic hunters, with a population of 244 on Nicobar Island. The local administration officials claimed that the project is proposed for an area not inhabited by the Shompens, as they had already moved inside jungles following the 2004 tsunami.

PM Modi named 21 islands of Andaman and Nicobar

Last January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi named 21 large unnamed islands of the UT after Param Vir Chakra awardees on the occasion of Parakram Diwas.

The prime minister also unveiled the model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji to be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, earlier known as Ross Islands.