Comments
INKEL Ltd, the infrastructure development agency promoted by the Kerala Government, has submitted its report on the development of Beypore port, which, among other things, calls for majority funding by the Government in the project.
INKEL entered the scene following the failure of the Department of Ports to rope in a private partner for the project, which is proposed to be implemented through public-private partnership (PPP) route. But the report, according to sources, has put the burden of investing the larger share of the cost on the department itself.
Development cost
The department had estimated a development cost of Rs 163 crore when it floated a global tender for identifying a private partner for the project. On its part, INKEL has projected a cost of around Rs 157 crore for the development of the port that is proposed to be taken up in two phases.
Out of the total cost, the contribution of INKEL will be about Rs 57 crore, while the department and Lakshadweep Development Council (LDC), which is planning to construct an exclusive berth for handling cargo and passenger vessels to and from the island, will share the remaining requirement of Rs 100 crore. The investment originally estimated by LDC in the construction of the berth is Rs 20 crore, which means the department will have to chip in around Rs 80 crore to implement the project.
The development project envisages deepening of the draft from the existing four metres to 12 metres in stages to help larger vessels of up to 20,000 DWT call on the port. According to the INKEL report, the onus of dredging the draft to the required depth will be on the department. Above all, the report had not gone into the details of the revenue accruals to the Government once the project is in operation, the sources said.
The report will be discussed at the meeting of a technical committee scheduled to be held in the next of couple of days.
New proposal
Meanwhile, a new proposal has come up for developing a deep-sea port off the coast at Beypore, where the available draft is deep enough for larger vessels. The present port facility is located at the mouth of Chaliyar river discharging into the Arabian Sea.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.