The Hindu Business Line : Kerala scouts for consultants to develop three more ports

The three ports were among seven identified for development almost a decade ago. But, whatever little progress achieved in the case of some of these ports soon fizzled out.

Mony K. Mathew

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct. 31 After the global tender to identify an investor for establishing an international container trans-shipment terminal at Vizhinjam near here, the Kerala Government is on the look-out for consultants for developing three more ports in the State.

The three ports, Alappuzha, Beypore and Azhikkal, are proposed to be developed on public-private partnership basis.

The consultants are sought for preparing detailed project reports, identifying the private partners and helping the Government to reach technical and financial closure.

It may be recalled that the three ports were among seven identified for development almost a decade ago. But, whatever little progress achieved in the case of some of these ports soon fizzled out for varying reasons.

As per the current proposal, the Alappuzha port will feature a cargo harbour as also a marina. The existing port was used once used for cargo operations and is without breakwaters.

To begin with, the consultant will be required to review a detailed project prepared by L&T Ramboll some time ago.

The Beypore port, lying 10 km south of Kozhikode, is the second biggest port in Kerala after Kochi and it currently handles one lakh tonnes of cargo and 7,500 passengers a year.

Its hinterlands include Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Kannur and Palakkad districts in the State and major cities such as Bangalore and Coimbatore.

The port was taken up for development by Mobil Peevees Company a few years ago and the plans included setting up of storage facilities for petroleum products. However, the project was abandoned later for various reasons.

At present, there are two wharves and a few basic facilities like storage sheds, cranes and tugs. The port is proposed to be developed in stages covering deepening of the draught to the maximum, building up of infrastructure to meet the projected cargo movements in the future and creating connectivity to the hinterlands.

The Azhikkal port near Kannur, which has been included by the Centre in the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) for developing coastal shipping, is planned to be developed in modules.

A DPR has already been prepared by ICICI-Kinfra and this will be reviewed suitably to integrate the port with NMDP.

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