Overview
- The project has entered late-stage approvals, and fresh columns and analyses have sharpened the public fight after Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the islands.
- Plans call for a container trans-shipment port, a dual-use international airport, power systems and a township at Galathea Bay, with costs estimated at Rs 80,000–1,00,000 crore over a 30-year build.
- Officials say multiple agencies have cleared key steps and pledge safeguards, including no displacement of Shompen and Nicobarese people, tree replanting and a net rise in notified tribal reserve area.
- A detailed critique says project papers do not back strong military gains, noting the 2023 bid document lacks defence terms and that only a small airport apron and a restricted defence zone appear in clearances.
- Environmentalists warn of clearing about 130 square kilometres of old-growth forest and damage to turtle nesting beaches, coral and mangroves, which they say would upend fragile ecosystems and local ways of life.