Vizhinjam port's phases to be completed by 2028, work to start in October

Adani Group's Vizhinjam International Seaport is all set to see a total investment to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore by 2028 and work on the remaining phases of the port is expected to start by October this year, said Karan Adani, managing director of Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ) addressing the trial run inauguration of the port on Friday.

This is India's first transshipment hub and first deepwater container terminal and according to a Bloomberg report, APSEZ itself will be investing around Rs 10,000 crore in the project. On Friday, the port's operations officially kicked off, after MV San Fernando, a vessel chartered by the world's second-largest shipping company Maersk, arrived at the port. Though the commissioning of Phase I of the project is scheduled at December 2024, it may be preponed by a few months to around September, according to the state government. The phase II to phase IV of the project is likely to be over by December 2028.

“By 2028-29, when all four phases of this project are completed, the Kerala government and Adani Vizhinjam Port will have invested a total of Rs 20,000 crore in this outstanding example of a large-scale public-private partnership project,” Adani said. “The public hearing for the port’s masterplan has just been successfully completed – and I am humbled by the overwhelming support from the people of Vizhinjam. I am delighted to announce that, as soon as we receive the environmental clearance and other regulatory approvals, the Adani Group will begin work immediately on the port’s remaining phases – and this could begin as early as October this year,” he added.

Adani Group also indicated that the phase I will be complete much before December. “We already have 600 meters of operational quay length – and we are preparing 7,500 container yard slots to accept cargo. While we are expected to handle 1 million TEUs per annum in Phase 1, we are confident that we will handle 1.5 million TEUs – 50 percent more!,” he added.

During phase I of the project, a total investment of Rs 8,867 crore is expected, out of which the state government’s contribution comes to around Rs 5,596 crore and Adani Group’s share at around Rs 2,454 crore, while the viability gap funding by the Centre government come to over Rs 800 crore. “No other port in India – including our own highly advanced Mundra Port – has these technologies. What we have already installed here is South Asia’s most advanced container handling technology. And once we complete the automation and the Vessel Traffic Management System, Vizhinjam will be in a class of its own as one of the most technologically sophisticated transshipment ports in the world,” he added.

“This is a new episode in the development of Kerala. These types of ports are only a handful in the world. Motherships are going to come here in large numbers. Though this is a trial run, operations will start from now. This is the first phase, the remaining phases were supposed to be over by 2045 as per the initial plan, but it will be completed by 2028 now. A treaty is going to be signed in this regard,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Vijayan said that the port's location just 11 nautical miles from the international shipping lanes and its natural deep depth of 20 meters made it perfect for being the "port-of-ports or motherport". He said the coming up of the port would also create employment opportunities as more than 5,000 jobs would be available as part of it.

Friday’s development also marks the debut of India’s first automated port with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities, capable of handling large ships, with its modern container handling equipment and world-class automation and IT systems. San Fernando, the 300-meter-long container vessel operated by Maersk with a capacity of 8,000-9,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), will be availing the services at the port to offload about 2,000 containers and for 400 container movements within the vessel.

Currently, 25 per cent of India’s container traffic is transshipped en route to the destination. Until now, despite India’s rising trade with the world, the country did not have a dedicated transshipment port, resulting in three-fourths or 75 per cent of India’s transshipped cargo being handled by ports outside India. Vizhinjam, will not only facilitate the movement of transshipment traffic into India but the strategically located port will also play a pivotal role in handling traffic along major routes connecting India, such as traffic between the US, Europe Africa, and the Indian subcontinent as well as US, Europe, Africa and the Far East, and thus playing a critical role in the international trade routes.