Congress challenges Centre’s Supreme Court move over Great Nicobar project

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh has criticised the Union government for asking the Supreme Court to stay proceedings in the Calcutta High Court concerning challenges to the Great Nicobar Island Project. Ramesh said the government had approached the Supreme Court despite agreeing to a final hearing on one of the petitions before the Calcutta High Court on November 25 and 26, 2026. He said the Supreme Court plea was likely to be heard on October 5.

The project’s estimated cost is ₹92,000 crore, according to Ramesh, who said it had been revised upwards from an earlier estimate of ₹72,000 crore. He alleged that approvals under environmental and forest laws were flawed and that impact assessment reports were unreliable. The Calcutta High Court is dealing with five petitions filed by citizens and civil society groups.

Ramesh said one petition alleges that the Forest Rights Act, 2006, was breached while consent was obtained for the project, with consequences for local tribal communities. He also said the High Court had upheld the right of a former senior official of the Union environment and tribal affairs ministries to bring the challenge. According to Ramesh, the Union government had questioned that right in the High Court and was now making the same argument before the Supreme Court.

Congress has repeatedly opposed the project, arguing that the proposed transhipment port at Galathea Bay could cause extensive ecological damage, including the destruction of coral colonies. Ramesh also said he had engaged with four Union Ministers about the project and had urged the Defence Minister to reconsider a decision concerning expansion of the INS Baaz runway. The source material records Congress’s allegations and does not provide the Union government’s response to them.