The Government of Kerala as part of its various programs for development of the state, has identified to develop Vizhinjam International deep water Multipurpose Seaport. It has formed a separate company, viz. Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) as a special purpose government company (fully owned by Government of Kerala) that would act as implementing agency for development of the greenfield port at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala.
Advantages of Vizhinjam are:
- Availability of 20m contour within one nautical mile from the coast.
- Minimal littoral drift along the coast, hardly any maintenance dredging required.
- Links to national/regional road, rail network
- Flexibility in design and expansion being a Greenfield project
- Proximity to International shipping route
The port development is proposed to follow the landlord port model where the dredging, reclamation as well as basic external infrastructure work like construction of break-water and quay wall will be taken up by VISL. Further, it is also expected to monitor Land Aquisition, road/rail infrastructure, water and power supply required for the construction and operations of the port on behalf of Government of Kerala (GoK).
The port terminal will be developed under Public Private Partnership(PPP) model wherein the construction and operation of the port terminal would be on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The port development along with the external infrastructure work is envisaged to be carried out in phases with the cumulative cost estimated to be around Rs. 6595 crore. The port is envisaged to provide in total 2000m of quay length in three phases and is designed to cater primarily for containers transshipment, besides providing for other type of cargo such as Multi-Purpose, Break Bulk.
The construction of basic civil infrastructure viz. dredging, land reclamation, construction of breakwaters and quay wall, as also land acquisition, road/rail connectivity and other external infrastructure required in phase 1 and the cost for the same is estimated to be Rs. 3040 crore. The said project cost is proposed to be funded through Rs. 1130 cr as equity from GoK and balance amount is proposed to be raised as debt through loans from banks/ institutions and through bonds.
