Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has confirmed that the Galathea Bay International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) project will proceed as planned, with Phase I scheduled to begin by 2028. According to reports from Business Standard, the project has been cleared for its first two phases at nearly ₹48,862 crore and will require viability gap funding (VGF) from the government to the tune of ₹12,230 crore. The project is currently awaiting Cabinet approval after being cleared by the finance ministry's Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC). As reported by Economy & Policy News, Sonowal told reporters that "This will not stop. We will start with Phase I by 2028" and in his latest interaction with media, he emphasized "We are not going to stop. We will go ahead with it. We will definitely do it" when asked about political backlash against the project.
The Indian National Congress (INC) has intensified its campaign against the project, with party leader Jairam Ramesh writing to Environment Minister Sonowal on June 17, 2026, seeking clarifications on the ownership structure of the proposed project. According to latest reports, Ramesh has raised concerns about non-transparency in the project's implementation and is seeking detailed responses from the government. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has also campaigned against the port, alleging that the government redrew coral maps and bypassed consultative processes. Gandhi stated that the project would involve bulldozing rainforests for casinos and pushing tribal communities off their land. In a video on 5 June, after visiting the islands, Gandhi questioned: "What kind of India do you want to inherit? One where rainforests have been bulldozed for casinos, coral reefs erased from maps, tribal communities pushed off their land, and the air we breathe turned into poison?" Earlier this month, Gandhi said the government's argument that the Great Nicobar Island Project is about defence and a transhipment port is a "lie", and alleged that it is actually about helping one businessman build hotels and casinos on India's most irreplaceable ecological land.
The Great Nicobar Project seeks to transform Great Nicobar into a strategic maritime and economic hub by leveraging its proximity (about 40 nautical miles) to the east-west shipping route and reducing dependence on foreign transhipment ports. According to the latest reports, the project includes major infrastructure components -- a 14.2 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (MTEU) international container transhipment terminal, a greenfield international airport (4,000 peak-hour passengers capacity), a 450 MVA gas-solar power plant, and a planned township. The project will be developed through a joint venture, owned 55 per cent by an Indian-owned and controlled entity and 45 per cent by select major ports owned by the Central government. The developer will be selected on the basis of the lowest VGF sought, with the project requiring active consultation with activists and environmentalists to address primary concerns about leatherback turtles and coral zones.
The project will divert 1.82 per cent of the total forest cover of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which has around 1.86 million trees. According to Business Standard reports, the government has maintained that the maximum number expected to be felled is 711,000 within 49.86 sq km of forest. Since the islands already have more than 75 per cent forest cover, compensatory afforestation cannot be carried out locally, with the government planning to carry out this afforestation in Haryana. Minister Sonowal stated that the project will be developed through a joint venture, owned 55 per cent by an Indian-owned and controlled entity and 45 per cent by select major ports owned by the Central government. As reported by Economy & Policy News, Sonowal emphasized that "There were two primary concerns — leatherback turtles and the coral zone. We have kept the turtles' breeding zone protected and ensured that no environmental destruction takes place. We have not rushed our due diligence on this" and assured that "We will keep it safe" when addressing all issues before commencing the project.
The government plans to mark India's presence near the Strait of Malacca — one of the four hotspots of global maritime trade — citing that around three-fourths of India's transhipment cargo is routed through foreign ports. As reported by Business Standard, Sonowal contested claims that indigenous communities do not favour the project, stating that people in the islands want economic development and believe the region has been isolated for a long time. According to the shipping ministry's responses to the PPPAC during meetings, these considerations are being made to "boost the confidence of prospective bidders" due to location- and sector-specific challenges associated with the project. The project will be developed through a joint venture, owned 55 per cent by an Indian-owned and controlled entity and 45 per cent by select major ports owned by the Central government.
