The Hindu Business Line : Kerala Govt to hold investors meet to develop Vizhinjam port

THE Kerala Government will hold an investors' meet in the middle of February as part of the exercise to identify prospective private partners for the development of Vizhinjam port into an international container trans-shipment terminal.

The Department of Ports had recently invited expressions of interest from investors for the development of the port and the investors' meet is designed to give a first-hand feel of the proposed project to the interested parties, according to department officials.

The consultants, L&T Ramboll, has already completed the feasibility study of the first phase of the project, which features facilities for two main lines and four feeder berths. In the final phase, the project envisages four main lines and nine feeder berths at a total cost of Rs 1,800 crore.

In the meantime, the department has initiated discussions with two companies, Universal Lubricants of Sharjah and Antara Koh of Singapore, who have shown interest in developing Azhikkal port in Kannur. A team from the Singapore company was expected to visit the project site some time next week, the officials said.

Originally, four companies had expressed interest for the development of the port. But two of them, Lagan Holdings Ltd of Ireland and the Bangalore-based Chandragiri Constructions, had later withdrawn from the fray.

The officials informed that the preliminary work in respect of the development of Beypore port near Kozhikode was in the final stages. The Parisons group had appointed PricewaterCoopers as the consultants who have already completed due diligence on the project. A detailed proposal was expected to be put up with the department shortly, they said.

In the case of Alappuzha Marina project, though the Malaysian company, Trans Resources Corporation, had gone lukewarm after showing interest initially, the department has received some enquiries in the last few days.