Vizhinjam port project awarded to Adani, finally

India will get its first deep-water trans-shipment port with the Kerala government finally awarding the contract for the Rs4,089 crore Vizhinjam port project to Adani Port and Special Economic Zone.

The development of the port will help Indian exporters save trans-shipment charges for using the Colombo Port in Sri Lanka for transferring cargo to foreign vessels.

At present, approximately 1.0 million TEUs of Indian cargo is getting transshipped through foreign ports like Colombo.

Development of Vizhinjam port will help in cost saving to Indian trade as the boxes can be transshipped at a lower cost from Vizhinjam port.

The Ahmedabad-headquartered group, which already operates the country's busiest port at Mundra in Gujarat, has received `Letter of Award' for developing the port, Adani Group said in a statement.

Gautam Adani-led Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone  (APSEZ) on Wednesday said it has received the Kerala government's nod for developing the Rs4,089-crore Vizhinjam International Deepwater Seaport project.

The total project cost estimated by the Kerala government is Rs4,089 crore and the time-frame for commissioning of project is four years, which will be met by Adani Group, based on its past execution record, it added.

"We are very happy to be a part of this prestigious project. We acknowledge the support of Kerala government to develop this deep water multi cargo port in the country. "It is a strategic location being very close to international shipping route and has the potential to become the biggest trans-shipment hub in the region," said Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani.

"This project makes us take one more step towards nation building, committing ourselves to the development of Kerala. This is indeed a very proud moment for us," he added.

The company said it had keenly participated in the tender to ensure that Kerala gets its first deep water multi cargo port and India gets its first deep water trans-shipment port which has been missing till date.

The proposed deep water international multi-cargo port at Vizhinjam is 16km south of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram and it lies is on the international shipping route connecting Europe, Persian Gulf and the Far East, within 10 nautical miles of the east-west shipping axis.

APSEZ also operates ports in Mundra, Hazira,Tuna-Tekra (Kandla) and Dahej, in Gujarat, Dhamra in Odisha and operates specialised coal handling facilities in Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It is currently setting up a container terminal in Ennore in Tamil Nadu.