In what will become Kerala's first deep water multi-cargo port and India's first deep water transshipment port, billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Wednesday announced that the company has received 'letter of award' for development of the Vizhinjam International Deepwater Seaport Project, located in the state of Kerala, 16 kms south of the State Capital, Thiruvananthapuram.
APSEZ has been pronounced winner of the tender from Government of Kerala for the development of the port, which will involve estimated 'Total Project Cost' of Rs 4089 crore. The time frame for commissioning of project is 4 years.
The port location is selected to tap the potential of development as a deep water international multi-cargo port.
At present approximately 1.0 million twenty-feet equivalent unit (TEU)s 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 company is confident of completing the development work within the stipulated timeframe.
"We acknowledge the support of Government of Kerala 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 transshipment hub in the region. This project makes us take one more step towards nation building committing ourselves to the development of state of Kerala. This is indeed a very proud moment for us,” said Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group.
The proposed site is on the international shipping route connecting Europe, Persian Gulf and the Far East, very close to the east-west shipping axis within 10 nautical miles.