Kerala - Alappuzha   

Work on Alappuzha port to be expedited

Dennis Marcus Mathew

Work to be carried out on a Build Operate and Transfer basis, says Minister To be carried out on a BOT basis, says Minister

TAKING STOCK: Minister for Ports and Law M. Vijayakumar and K.C. Venugopal, MLA, along with others during a visit to the sea bridge near the defunct Alappuzha Port on Thursday.

ALAPPUZHA: Minister for Ports and Law M. Vijayakumar has said that the State Government would expedite work on the revival of the historical Alappuzha port, 64 km south of Cochin, as a marina (tourism)-cum-cargo terminal.

Mr. Vijayakumar, who on Thursday visited the dilapidated port and the 150-metre sea bridge, which is on its last legs, said the Government would soon appoint a consultant to study a project report on the revival of the port that was submitted to the Government by the Chennai-based L&T Ramboll.

The consultant would look into the technical details and financial viability of the report and make changes if necessary, after which global tenders would be called for. The work would be carried out on a Public Private Partnership mode on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

"It is already late and the Alappuzha Port being one of the oldest ports in our State, we do not want to delay the revival process any more," the Minister told reporters after holding discussions with port workers' union representatives and officials at the State Guest House here.

Director, Ports, S. Vijayan Pillai said L&T Ramboll had submitted the detailed project report in June 2004. However, no expressions of interest were received and another project report was received without tender from the Mumbai-based EECO Marine in June 2005. However, the company, which was asked to submit a "design and to prove the financial viability of the project," had not done so till June 2006, following which the Ports Department decided to keep the L&T report as a base document for further proposals.

While the development of the port as a tourist spot would cost around Rs.250 crore, the cargo terminal would cost around Rs.500 crore, bringing the estimate for the entire project to a staggering Rs.750 crore, Captain Pillai told The Hindu .

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