The Central Government is aggressively pushing forward with the strategic Great Nicobar Project, aiming to commence Phase-I of the project by 2028. Despite political backlash and environmental concerns raised by the Congress party regarding local coral zones and leatherback sea turtle breeding grounds, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal confirmed the project will not stop. The ₹48,862-crore initiative includes a massive international container transhipment terminal, an international airport, and a power plant designed to establish India’s presence near the crucial Strait of Malacca. In tandem, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has proposed extensive infrastructure funding for West Bengal to develop City Economic Regions (CERs) based on the NITI Aayog framework. This roadmap includes setting up specialized industrial clusters and multimodal logistics hubs across Kolkata, Siliguri, Haldia, and Durgapur to accelerate regional manufacturing and trade.