Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Ports Minister Ahamed Devarkovil on Saturday said the first phase of the Vizhinjam port will be commissioned by September next year. After a meeting with Adani Ports CEO Karan Adani, Devarkovil said the government was expecting the first vessel at Vizhinjam port in March 2023.
Located in Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram, Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd is developing the deep-sea water port as India’s first mega trans-shipment container terminal. ‘All works including the construction of the sea wall is progressing and this is going to be a modern port in Asia. The first phase of the port will be commissioned by September 2023. The local population will be trained for skilled jobs and it is going to create a lot of job opportunities’, Devarkovil said. The government also discussed the issue of agreement violation with the Adani Group and said the matter will be settled on ‘good terms’.
Adani, who came to Kerala to assess the progress of Vizhinjam Port construction, also met and held discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The CM had said earlier last year that the state government was ‘viewing seriously’ a provision in its agreement with the Adani Group that a fine can be imposed if it failed to meet the deadline for executing the Vizhinjam Port project.
As per the agreement between the state government and the Adani Group, the project was to be completed by December 2019 and if the project was not completed after that, there is a provision of imposing a fine of Rs 12 lakh per day. The company has said the world-class, future-ready port is the only trans-shipment hub in the Indian subcontinent, closest to the international shipping routes, and is centrally located on the Indian coastline.
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