Saying there seemed to be no end to the “march of grave ecological folly in Great Nicobar”, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday (August 21, 2026) said the “public battle for saving Great Nicobar continues even though the Narendra Modi Government is now ‘planting’ new reasons for going ahead with it”.

The Rajya Sabha MP and Congress’ general secretary in charge of communications referred to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration’s recent move to first issue an Expression of Interest (EoI) calling for feasibility proposals for a “big energy-guzzling” data centre project on the islands and then “mysteriously” withdraw it, citing “administrative reasons”. 

In a statement on social media, Mr. Ramesh said hopefully, the withdrawal of the EoI would be permanent. He also noted the ongoing opposition to the Centre’s ₹91,000 crore mega-infrastructure project from the local Tribal Council on Great Nicobar Island and cited the cases filed against the clearances granted for it in the Calcutta High Court.

Mr. Ramesh said, “Genuine local and national interest demands that the project (the holistic project to build an airport, transshipment port, and tourism-led township) not be taken forward.”

Within four days of calling for feasibility proposals for a private-sector-led green AI data centre in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the administration withdrew the EoI document it had published earlier this month.

The administration had said it was exploring private-sector interest in building such a project near Little Andaman and Great Nicobar Island.

According to members of the Tribal Council of Great and Little Nicobar, locals of Great Nicobar had not been informed of any proposal to explore the setting up of a data centre on their island.