Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) may have all factors going for launching a second ship-building facility in Kerala at Vizhinjam near here.

This was alluded to by Mr K. Mohandas, Secretary, Union Ministry of Shipping, during his keynote address at the dedication ceremony of the CSL bollard pull test facility at Vizhinjam near here on Friday.

CSL WILLING

That CSL was considering this option seriously was made public in his address by the Kerala Ports Minister, Mr K. Babu, in the presence of Cmde K. Subramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director, CSL.

Earlier, Cmde Subramaniam had himself indicated that the 500-tonne bollard pull test facility could be the forbearer of a slew of projects that the CSL had in mind for the Vizhinjam area, nature's best gift for the maritime industry as a whole.

The Vizhinjam pull test facility is the highest in terms of handling capacity, a good 2.5 times higher than the country's second best at Ratnagiri.

The Kerala Ports Minister also laid the foundation stone for a drinking water supply and sanitation project that the CSL was taking up at Vizhinjam as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.

SECURITY CLEARANCE

Separately, the Minister said that the much larger Vizhinjam international port and deep sea container transhipment terminal project had reached a milestone with two shortlisted companies submitting their technical and financial bids.

But an empowered committee, set up by the State Government, has decided that the financial bids shall be opened only after the two companies, Mundra Port and the Welspun Consortium, get their respective security clearances from the Centre.

The State Government has also started lobbying with the Centre to get the Vizhinjam Port declared as a Customs Port under Section 8(A) of the Central Customs Act to entitle it to grant incentives to exporters.

CUSTOMS PORT

Vizhinjam has already been declared a Customs Port under Section 7 (A) of the Act but a notification under Section 8 (A) had to be issued if it was to get export promotion facility.

For this to happen, the port should build for itself a secure godown, boundary wall, access road and electricity for proper lighting.

The State Government has decided to complete all work in this connection by the first week of January 2012, Mr Babu said.

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