Introduction
After a long wait, the Vizhinjam International Seaport is
going to be a reality. On June 11, 2015, the Government of Kerala has finally
given the go ahead signal to the Adani Group to construct a sea port at a place
called Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram. When operational, it would become the
largest seaport in the country. People in the field believe that it has a
number of unique features that would make it the busiest seaport in the region.
History of Vizhinjam Seaport Project
The builder of the seaport Adani Group is planning to
complete the terminal in three phases. If everything goes well, the first cargo
vessel is expected to dock in the Vizhinjam Shipyard in four years. The idea of
building a seaport at Vizhinjam was floated about 20 years ago. In the last 20
years, the port was amiss between the cup and the lip. There were many
obstacles, both security and environmental – in its way. At other times, the
demands of the prospective builders were not met. When conceived in 1991, the
probable cost of the seaport to be built on landlord model was Rs. 6595 crore.
But due to the lag in the implementation, the project cost rose to Rs. 7525
crore. According to new understanding, the new seaport would be built on Public
Private Partnership – Private Services model.
Current Status of Vizhinjam Seaport
When operational, Vizhinjam Seaport would become a special purpose
government company. As a result, the Government of Kerala would become the sole
implementing agency for the development of this Greenfield port. The government had applied lots of mind to
this project and asked an entity to find out its pros and cons when implemented
in the chosen place in Thiruvananthapuram. Last year, the central government had
given the environmental as well as security clearance to this seaport after studying
the report prepared by the state government. This time around, only Adani
Group, with two decades of experience in port building and maintenance, came up
with the expression of interest in the project. After a lot of deliberation,
the Kerala government has finally given permission for the Adani Group to
construct a port in Vizhinjam.
Advantages of Vizhinjam Seaport
When operational, the exporters don’t have to go elsewhere
to ship their products to foreign countries. This is the case with the
importers as well. Currently, they have to go to Singapore, Australia or Sri
Lanka to ship and fetch the cargoes. This is expected to bring down the cost of
transportation. There are other features that make this project a unique one.
They are listed below.
- International Trade Route: The location of Vizhinjam International Seaport is close to the sea route that different players use to ferry their products to different countries. The port is just 1 nautical mile from the sea trade route.
- East-West Shopping Axis: The port is also very close to the busy East-West Shopping Axis. Hence, it can attract a lot of sea-based business in this region.
- Natural Depth: The average depth of the sea is 24 metre up to just one nautical mile from the sea shore. The sea ports operational in other countries like Australia, Sri Lanka and Singapore have the natural depth of only 15 metres. Hence, bigger cargo vessels can easily dock near the shore.
- Attracting Bigger Players: Other seaports in our country do not attract bigger ships as the approach to them is through shallow waters. That is the reason the people in export-import businesses have to go the foreign countries to get their work done. Hence, it involves a lot of cost.
- No Dredging: Other ports of the region require periodical dredging to increase the depth of the approach route. Hence, the cost of maintenance is more. When operational, Vizhinjam Seaport will not require such dredging, bringing the cost of maintenance down.
