Sri Vijaya Puram, July 29: Shri Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, met with the Hon’ble Finance Minister Govt. of India at New Delhi on 28th July and submitted a detailed letter addressed to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Home Minister, Finance Minister with a copy endorsed to Hon’ble Lt. Governor, Chief Secretary, A&N Administration and Commissioners/Secretaries of A&N Administration. The MP has strongly urged the Central Government to considerably enhance the capital expenditure allocation under the Revised Estimates (RE) 2025–26 and Budget Estimates (BE) 2026–27 and subsequent budget allocation for 05 years along with a special grant of ₹5,000 crore for the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
During the meeting, the MP highlighted the urgent need for strengthening basic infrastructure in the Islands, including rural roads, water supply systems, bridges, culverts, high drains, erosion control measures, and main public utilities including hospitals, education infrastructure, Tribal welfare etc which remain grossly underdeveloped due to insufficient capital allocation over the years. The current year’s capital allocation of just ₹555 crore out of a total ₹6,267 crore budget is inadequate to address the needs of 40 departments across the Islands, with only about ₹70 crore available to APWD for new construction.
Shri Ray, Hon’ble MP pointed out that in many backward and tribal areas, especially in North & Middle Andaman, settlements established over 50 -60 years ago still lack basic road connectivity. Public dissatisfaction is growing due to the deteriorated condition of roads and the poor state of civic infrastructure, which also impacts tourism.
The MP further noted that important infrastructure funds and special grants, such as the ₹279 crore sanctioned in 2018 by the Hon’ble PM, remained underutilized due to weak implementation by local administrative bodies. The absence of timely District Planning Committee meetings also weakened participatory planning.
He also highlighted in the letter and personally apprised the Hon’ble Finance Minister that, as of now, the total length of all types of roads under various agencies in the A&N Islands is approximately 2,500 km, out of which nearly 1,300 km are in a severely damaged/worst condition. This includes both repair and new construction of pucca roads from existing earthen roads under agencies such as APWD, PRIs, and the Municipal Council. He emphasized that it is impossible to meet the expenditure for repairing and upgrading these roads within the existing capital budget, and therefore, a special grant along with an enhanced budget allocation for 05 years is urgently required. The main demands raised by the MP include:
1) Direct the A&N Administration to prepare a comprehensive and need-based proposal under the Capital Head in the RE 2025-2026 and BE 2026-2027 to address urgent infrastructure gaps.
2) Provide enhanced capital funding for the next 5 years treating A&N Islands as a special case due to its remoteness, strategic importance, and developmental backlog.
3) Special Grant of ₹5,000 Crore for essential infrastructure including rural and urban roads, dams, water pipelines, erosion control, renovation of tsunami shelters, drainage systems, health, education, agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, power supply, and shipping infrastructure.
4) Depute a multidisciplinary central expert team from the Government of India to A&N Islands to assess infrastructure needs, consult local stakeholders, and prepare a comprehensive action plan.
Shri Bishnu Pada Ray emphasized that this support is essential to bridge the developmental gap, uplift rural and tribal populations, and build modern, resilient infrastructure in this strategically important Union Territory.
He expressed hope that the Ministry of Finance and the Government of India will treat this appeal with utmost priority and compassion for the welfare of the people of the Islands.