In India's first of its kind, Lakshadweep islands will soon be home to Eco-Friendly Maldives-style water villas, attracting the attention of world tourism to the Island state.

With a vision to establish a robust base for maritime economic growth with tourism development at its core, the administration said it is engaged in developing high-end eco-tourism projects at these islands as anchor projects under the aegis of NITI Aayog.

The three premium projects will come up in Minicoy, Kadmat, and Suheli islands at a cost of Rs 800 crore, for which the administration floated global tenders on Saturday.

"In a first of its kind initiative in the country, three premium water villa projects are identified in Minicoy (150 keys, project cost of Rs 319 crore), Suheli (110 keys, Rs 247 crore), and Kadmat (110 keys, Rs 240 crore) islands, based on comprehensive location suitability analysis, technical and financial feasibility and project structuring," the administration said in a statement.

The Eco-tourism resort at Minicoy Island consists of an 8.53 Ha land area, 6.00 Ha lagoon area, 110 keys for Beach villas and 40 keys for Water villas. Supporting infrastructure to be created by the developer includes 114 KLD RO/Desalination Plant and 2152 kW (Rooftop + Floating) Solar Power Source.

A group of concerned scientists and researchers however had petitioned the administration early last year detailing why the NITI Aayog-led project will be ecologically disastrous and socio-economically ill-considered.

The beaches being cultural and ecological spaces for the islanders, the project would be detrimental to the interests of the local community as well, they argued.