But with the expert committee report running into trouble, the DMK, a key ally of the Congress, is bound to increase pressure on the government as it wants work to start project at the earliest. While forming a Group of Ministers could help buy time, sources said, it is clear that this report cannot be accepted in totality and a separate study may have to be conducted before work can start again on the project.

When contacted, Baalu refused to comment. “I don’t have to say anything on it. The matter is being dealt by the Cabinet Secretariat,” he told The Sunday Express. The project involves dredging of about a 90 km-long channel across the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka that will allow a straight passage to ships sailing between the east and west coasts of India. This will cut an estimated 780 km and up to 30 hours in sailing distance and time as ships will not need to go around Sri Lanka.

The members of the expert committee included S Ramachandran, Vice Chancellor of the Madras University; S R Wate, Deputy Director of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in Nagpur; R K Jain, Managing Director of the Indian Ports Association; Prof R S Sharma, a former professor of History in Delhi University among others.