What happened
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh rejected Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s argument that the Great Nicobar Island Project is strategically vital. Ramesh maintained that the government is effectively creating a strategic rationale and that the project is, in fundamental character, a commercial venture.
Ramesh’s position is connected to a Defence Ministry reply dated July 17 that is described as responding to two earlier letters. The dispute also follows Ramesh’s repeated letters to Union ministries over two years covering environment/forests/climate change, tribal affairs, ports/shipping/waterways, and defence, with three ministries responding.
Ramesh’s core claim: the project’s core is commercial
Ramesh argued that the Galathea Bay transshipment port forms the project’s core and accounts for about half of the total budget. On this basis, Ramesh described the port as commercially driven “by definition.”
Ramesh also addressed the defence-linked component. Ramesh said the dual-purpose airport—described as the only defence-focused component—requires about 5% of the 166 sq. km land sought and roughly 10% of the project budget. Ramesh used these shares to argue that broad claims of strategic importance are overstated.