The Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, has said that the State Government was viewing with concern reports suggesting that hurdles might be put in the way of securing environmental clearances for the proposed Vizhinjam international port and container transhipment terminal.

“There appears to be an attempt to thwart the project citing proximity to the proposed Colachel port in neighbouring Tamil Nadu,” the Chief Minister said at a meeting of the Cabinet late on Wednesday.

COUNTER MOVES

The State Government was seized of the matter and was contemplating moves to counter these moves to get the clearances from the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests (MoEF) in time, Mr Achuthanandan told newspersons.

Meanwhile, the State Cabinet has approved the short list of pre-qualified bidders for the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage.

The State Government was going ahead with the implementation of the project and has started acquiring land for construction activities.

Steps were being finalised to begin construction, the Chief Minister said. The State Government proposed to spend Rs 450 crore to set up infrastructure facilities for the project.

SMART CITY PROJECT

A memorandum of understanding had been signed with a consortium led by State Bank of Travancore for securing funds for implementation of the project, the Chief Minister said.

The Cabinet also approved a new lease deed signed with Dubai-based Tecom for setting up the Smart City project at Kochi, Mr Achuthanandan said.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the Chief Minister told the State Assembly that construction activities on the SmartCity project would begin within two weeks.

The deadlock over the project was broken during a meeting between the Chief Minister and officials of the Dubai Government earlier this month in which prominent non-resident businessman Mr M. A. Yusaf Ali acted as a facilitator.

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