Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that though the arrival of the first cargo ship at the Vizhinjam seaport was a test, with this the operation of the international deep sea transshipment port has begun.
The CM formally welcomed the 300 meter long Chinese mother ship 'San Fernando' at a ceremony held at the port here in the presence of Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, the President of the Kerala Assembly A N Shamseer, several state ministers, UDF MLA M Vincent and APSEZ CEO Karan Adani.
The mother ship docked on Thursday at the port developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India's largest port developer and part of the Adani Group, in a public-private partnership model at a cost of around 8,867 crores. .
Vijayan, addressing a large crowd of people who had come to the port to see the 300-metre-long mothership, said Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) will become a full-fledged one in 2028, 17 years ahead of schedule. .
It was initially envisaged that by 2045 phases two, three and four of the port would be completed and it would become a fully equipped port, he said.
However, it will become a full-fledged port in 2028, with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, for which an agreement will be signed soon, he said.
Vijayan said the then LDF government had said in 2006 that it would try to get permission to build a port in Vizhinjam, where construction of a port has been under consideration since royal times.
In March 2007, VISL was made nodal agency, but subsequently, the then Manmohan Singh government denied permission for the port, he said.
He further said that it was only thanks to the more than 200-day long public protests led by the LDF that permission for the port was granted.
"When we came to power in 2016, construction work on the port began," he said.
His comments come after the opposition Congress claimed that the port was the "baby" of the UDF and that party stalwart Oommen Chandy was the driving force behind it.
Vijayan said that as Vizhinjam emerges as an international port, it will further increase India's importance globally.
"But some forces, especially international lobbies, tried to put obstacles in place to prevent this from becoming a reality. Many business lobbies were also against the Vizhinjam port," he said.
The CM said that despite these adversities, the government was clear that the port had to move forward and that vision was executed.
"Our only concern was that it not become an avenue for corruption or exploitation," he added.
Vijayan said the port's location just 11 nautical miles from international shipping routes and its natural depth of 20 meters made it perfect to be the "port of ports or mother port".
He said the construction of the port would also create employment opportunities as more than 5,000 jobs would be available as part of it.
"It is estimated that once this port becomes fully operational, Kerala will become the hub of the country's container business. Vizhinjam port is also expected to bring about significant development in the fields of industry, trade, transportation and tourism and, therefore, the overall economic growth of the state," the CM said.
He said the port will also benefit India's neighboring countries.
Karan Adani, who also spoke at the event, said the docking of the mother ship at the port was "a symbol of a new and glorious achievement in India's maritime history".
Talking about the state-of-the-art infrastructure of the port, he said that no other port in India, including Mundra port, has technologies like that of Vizhinjam.
"What we have already installed here is the most advanced container handling technology in South Asia. And once we complete the automation and vessel traffic management system, Vizhinjam will be in a class of its own as one of the ports in most technologically sophisticated transshipment in the world," he said.
Equipped with modern equipment and advanced IT and automation systems, Vizhinjam will become India's first semi-automated port and is expected to become operational in September or October 2024.
The project, which was scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, was delayed due to issues with land acquisition, various natural calamities and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The CM formally welcomed the 300 meter long Chinese mother ship 'San Fernando' at a ceremony held at the port here in the presence of Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, the President of the Kerala Assembly A N Shamseer, several state ministers, UDF MLA M Vincent and APSEZ CEO Karan Adani.
The mother ship docked on Thursday at the port developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India's largest port developer and part of the Adani Group, in a public-private partnership model at a cost of around 8,867 crores. .
Vijayan, addressing a large crowd of people who had come to the port to see the 300-metre-long mothership, said Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) will become a full-fledged one in 2028, 17 years ahead of schedule. .
It was initially envisaged that by 2045 phases two, three and four of the port would be completed and it would become a fully equipped port, he said.
However, it will become a full-fledged port in 2028, with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, for which an agreement will be signed soon, he said.
Vijayan said the then LDF government had said in 2006 that it would try to get permission to build a port in Vizhinjam, where construction of a port has been under consideration since royal times.
In March 2007, VISL was made nodal agency, but subsequently, the then Manmohan Singh government denied permission for the port, he said.
He further said that it was only thanks to the more than 200-day long public protests led by the LDF that permission for the port was granted.
"When we came to power in 2016, construction work on the port began," he said.
His comments come after the opposition Congress claimed that the port was the "baby" of the UDF and that party stalwart Oommen Chandy was the driving force behind it.
Vijayan said that as Vizhinjam emerges as an international port, it will further increase India's importance globally.
"But some forces, especially international lobbies, tried to put obstacles in place to prevent this from becoming a reality. Many business lobbies were also against the Vizhinjam port," he said.
The CM said that despite these adversities, the government was clear that the port had to move forward and that vision was executed.
"Our only concern was that it not become an avenue for corruption or exploitation," he added.
Vijayan said the port's location just 11 nautical miles from international shipping routes and its natural depth of 20 meters made it perfect to be the "port of ports or mother port".
He said the construction of the port would also create employment opportunities as more than 5,000 jobs would be available as part of it.
"It is estimated that once this port becomes fully operational, Kerala will become the hub of the country's container business. Vizhinjam port is also expected to bring about significant development in the fields of industry, trade, transportation and tourism and, therefore, the overall economic growth of the state," the CM said.
He said the port will also benefit India's neighboring countries.
Karan Adani, who also spoke at the event, said the docking of the mother ship at the port was "a symbol of a new and glorious achievement in India's maritime history".
Talking about the state-of-the-art infrastructure of the port, he said that no other port in India, including Mundra port, has technologies like that of Vizhinjam.
"What we have already installed here is the most advanced container handling technology in South Asia. And once we complete the automation and vessel traffic management system, Vizhinjam will be in a class of its own as one of the ports in most technologically sophisticated transshipment in the world," he said.
Equipped with modern equipment and advanced IT and automation systems, Vizhinjam will become India's first semi-automated port and is expected to become operational in September or October 2024.
The project, which was scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, was delayed due to issues with land acquisition, various natural calamities and the Covid-19 pandemic.