The Vizhinjam terminal was seen as a
crucial project for the Indian shipping sector
The proposed seaport has the capability to handle
over 6 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers shortly
The state capital's city limit was just 7km north of the proposed port and this was an advantage
as the city offered good quality human resources and supporting social infrastructure
A container shipment economics study says that
Vizhinjam will cut down the cost of operations compared to other ports for containers from and to from hinterland locations as well as main locations
Vizhinjam has caught the fancy of the Ambani brothers
Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries and Anil's ADA Group sent their
senior vice-presidents to attend the investors' meet organised by Kerala government on April 17
Apart from this overseas majors like shipping giant
Maersk of Denmark, Alberg Ports of Australia, Japan's Nissin Corporation, UK's Beckett Rankine, Dubai Ports World, Cyan Holdings BV of the Netherlands and Ranhill Group of Companies, Malaysia are interested.
From India, the PSU shipping company
Shipping Corporation of India, Mundra Port & SEZ, Ashok Leyland Project Services, Emmar MGF, Essar Constructions, Zoom Developers and JM Baxi were among those who attended the meeting. The meet was attended by a consortium comprising
US-based Obocon Inc, Kuwait's KGL Transport, Indonesia's Astra international and Unity Infrastructure of Mumbai as well.
This site had a natural depth of 20 metres as close as one nautical mile from the coastline.
This high natural depth meant minimum capital dredging would be required and thus the project would enjoy lower costs.
For instance, the country's largest container port at present, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), was all set to dredge its shipping channel to 14 metres against current 12.5 metres
Reliance Industries can use Vizhinjam as strong base for its mega retail network. For Anil Ambani, Vizhinjam port would be strong link to evacuate cargo with his container trains. Anil has already secured container train operating licence
National Highway (NH) 47 and the NH-47 Bypass are in close proximity, with the bypass just 3km away and the NH 10km away. The national rail network was less than 12km from the proposed port site
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http://www.business-standard.com/eco...o=282039&tab=r
If politicians had acted before some 30 years Kerala would have been a Singapore now. Instead they have spent billions in cleaning the mud of some other part. Even 1/100 th of that would have offered a gateway port to India. Now they are realizing that it is high time to act.