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Mony K. Mathew

Thiruvananthapuram , Sept. 26

EVEN as the evaluation of the bids for the development of the Vizhinjam international container trans-shipment terminal is underway, the other port projects in Kerala are moving in a tardy manner.

The State's two other priority projects - Beypore and Azhikkal - apart from Vizhinjam, have slowed down after the process of identifying the investors. This is due to the delay in framing some of the clauses that are to be incorporated in the build-operate-transfer agreements, according to sources in the Ports Department.

In the case of the Beypore port, the Kozhikode-based Parisons group had submitted a techno-economic bid prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was in turn evaluated by IL&FS for drafting the concession agreement.

The department has invited the Parisons group for another round of discussions in the first week of next month to work out the details of the agreement, the sources said. There is a proposal for floating a special purpose vehicle (SPV), with equity participation from the Government, to develop the port.

This is in view of the money spent by the Government on the existing infrastructure at the port such as breakwaters and a berth. This will form the Government's equity in the SPV.

The BOT agreement is proposed to be for 30 years. The Government's revenue will be fixed after arriving at the potential traffic at the port.

For Azhikkal port, the Sharjah-based Universal Lubricants is expected to soon submit a new proposal to the department.

The company has appointed a consultant for the purpose, the sources said.

The question of a new proposal has come up in the wake of the restructuring of the project implementation.

The project cost has been scaled down from the originally envisaged Rs 1,200 crore and the port is now proposed to be implemented in modules with the first phase costing Rs 360 crore.

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