Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday wrote to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over the Great Nicobar Island Project, describing it in its current form as a recipe for “ecological disaster” and urging the government to explore alternatives with lower environmental costs.
The Congress has repeatedly raised concerns over the project, alleging adverse impacts on ecology and tribal rights in the region.
In his letter to Singh, Ramesh acknowledged the importance of bolstering India’s defence preparedness but suggested measures that, he said, could strengthen strategic capabilities around Great Nicobar with significantly less ecological damage.
He noted that such alternatives had been proposed by naval officers in their writings and could help improve the country’s defence infrastructure without severely affecting the island’s fragile ecosystem.
Sharing the letter on X, Ramesh said, “After writing to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests, & Climate Change and the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, I have written to the Raksha Mantri on the Great Nicobar Island Project.”
The former Environment Minister said the Centre had issued a press note titled ‘The Great Nicobar Island Project: FAQs’ on May 1.
Referring to his earlier correspondence with Union ministers, Ramesh said he had written on May 10, 2026, to the Environment Minister, alleging the FAQs presented a “completely false picture” of the project’s environmental clearances, which he claimed had been granted on “very dubious grounds”.
He further said that in a letter dated May 13, 2026, to the Tribal Affairs Minister, he had argued that the FAQs “misrepresent totally” the status of compliance with the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and “flagrantly violate, in letter and spirit, the individual and collective rights given to tribal communities by Parliament.”
“Now I am writing to you since the project, which is essentially a commercial venture and is facing growing public criticism because of the ecological damage it will cause, is being sought to be justified by the Government of India supposedly on overriding security considerations,” he said in his letter to Singh.
“Let me straightaway say that there can be no two opinions on the need to strengthen our nation's defences. There can also be no two opinions on the need to project India's strategic capabilities in a credible manner,” he said.
Ramesh proposed expanding existing defence infrastructure instead of pursuing the project in its current form. He pointed out that INS Baaz in Campbell Bay, commissioned in July 2012, has pending plans to significantly extend its runway and build a naval jetty.
“But plans for at least trebling the length of the existing runway and making a naval jetty have been awaiting approval for almost five years. These plans have far less adverse environmental impacts as well,” Ramesh suggested.
He also called for the expansion of long-standing assets under the Andaman and Nicobar Command, including INS Kardip, INS Kohassa, INS Utkrosh, INS Jarawa and the Car Nicobar Air Force Station.
“These include INS Kardip, INS Kohassa, INS Utkrosh, INS Jarawa & the Car Nicobar Air Force Station,” he said.
Questioning the security rationale behind parts of the project, Ramesh said, “Third, the transshipment port and the township that are an essential part of the Great Nicobar Island Project do not enhance our country's military capability in any way. Yet, now that suddenly has emerged as a major justification for them.”
“Finally, I wish to reiterate that the Great Nicobar Island Project in its present shape and form is a recipe for ecological disaster. I would urge you, as the nation's Raksha Mantri, to seriously consider the above alternatives that have, in fact, been proposed by distinguished naval officers themselves in their writings,” Ramesh said in his letter.
(With inputs from PTI)