The success of the Vizhinjam international deepwater multipurpose seaport will hinge on its potential to ‘realign’ container traffic and divert it from Colombo.

While the mega project holds this potential, it would also be one of the most difficult to build, says Santosh Mohapatra, director, Adani Group, and CEO, Adani Vizhinjam Ports, a special purpose vehicle.

Logistical challenge

Adani Ports & SEZ has received the letter of award from the Kerala government to implement the Rs 7,525-crore project being taken up on private-public participation on design, build, finance, operate, and transfer basis.

Adanis and the Kerala government are scheduled to sign the project concession agreement here on August 17.

Ahead of this, Mohapatra was here to attend a seminar on the potential of Vizhinjam organised by Kerala Kaumudi, a vernacular daily. “No one has built such a port in India,” he said. Explaining, he referred to the unusually long breakwater that needed to be built to ensure a ‘tranquil’ port where ships could berth safely.

Track record

This combined with availability of the least stretch of land and need for reclamation posed a major logistical challenge.

“This is one of the reasons why bidders have shied away from this long-pending project,” Mohapatra said.

But the Adanis have proved its capability to take up these challenges on more than one occasion and executed such projects in the past.

He sought to dismiss the ‘natural port’ concept saying what decided a port’s potential was the distance that separated it from the deep sea, which in turn determined the length of the port channel.

Some locations such as Vizhinjam require a long breakwater to artificially create tranquil waters while some others are naturally tranquil.

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