4 min readNew DelhiMay 1, 2026 02:39 PM IST Two days after Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, called the Rs 81,000-crore Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project as “one of the biggest scams” and “gravest crime” against India’s natural and tribal heritage, the Union Government on Friday issued a lengthy factsheet on ‘environmental impact assessment’, tribal welfare, while laying out the project’s ‘strategic maritime’ and ‘defence’ purpose. The government also claimed that Nicobarese and Shompen habitations on the island will not be displaced, and ‘no relocation’ of the communities is proposed. The government fact-sheet, while not explicitly defending the project against Gandhi’s charge, sought to underline that the project has been granted prior environmental clearance after a detailed process, and includes 42 specific conditions on environmental protection. It said that the project leverages the island’s strategic location “to strengthen India’s national security, maritime and defence presence in the Indo-Pacific, while simultaneously embedding environmental safeguards and tribal welfare mechanisms.” The mega project will see the construction of a transshipment port, an integrated township, a civil …