Great Nicobar project a recipe for ecological disaster: Ramesh to Defence minister

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday wrote to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the Great Nicobar Island Project, saying the project in its present shape and form is a recipe for “ecological disaster”.

Congress leaders have been flagging concerns over the project, claiming it would have a bearing on the ecology and tribal rights in the region.

In his letter to the minister, he said while there can be no two opinions on the need to strengthen India’s defences, he suggested some measures to help strengthen its strategic capabilities around the Great Nicobar project.

He said such measures have been proposed by naval officers in their writings and can help improve the country’s defence without much damage to the area’s ecology.

Ramesh shared the letter on X, saying, “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.”

Ramesh, who has earlier served as Environment minister, said on May 1, the Government of India had issued a press note titled ‘The Great Nicobar Island Project: FAQs’.

On May 10, 2026, he said he had written to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on how these FAQs present a “completely false picture” on the project’s environmental clearances which, in reality, have been given on very dubious grounds.

“On May 13, 2026, I wrote to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs on how the FAQs misrepresent totally the position regarding the fulfilment of the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 as part of the project’s clearance process which 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.

“Even so, I submit the following for your consideration. First, INS Baaz located in Campbell Bay on the Great Nicobar Island was commissioned in July 2012. 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.

Secondly, he said, there are also assets of the Andaman and Nicobar Command created many years ago that could be expanded with far less environmental costs.

“These include INS Kardip, INS Kohassa, INS Utkrosh, INS Jarawa & the Car Nicobar Air Force Station.

“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,” the Congress leader said.

“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.