The Hindu : New Delhi News : Defence Ministry nod for port project

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Wednesday, Aug 06, 2008
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Defence Ministry nod for port project

Special Correspondent

The Rs.5,348-crore Vizhinjam project now requires security clearance

NEW DELHI: The Union Defence Ministry on Tuesday gave clearance for the ambitious Vizhinjam port project in Kerala.

The Rs.5,348-crore project will now require security clearances from other Central agencies before a consortium led by Hyderabad-based Lanco Kondapalli Power Private Ltd, Lanco Infrastructure Limited and Malaysia-based Pembinaan Redzai Sdn. Bhd takes up the implementation of the project in two phases.

Lying very close to a busy international shipping route, the Vizhinjam port, with a natural depth of 24 metres, will not require any dredging and will be built over 150 acres. It can handle over 40 lakh containers a year.

Two conditions

Special Correspondent adds from Thiruvananthapuram:

The Defence Ministry, in its communication to the State government, has put forward two conditions:

One is that the deepwater container transhipment port should provide berthing facilities to naval vessels whenever required. A condition to this effect should be incorporated in the final agreement the State government would sign with the consortium.

The second condition is that the port trust to be formed for managing the affairs of the proposed project should have a representative of the Indian Navy as one of its members. The officer for this post would come from the Southern Naval Command.

The Defence Ministry gave its clearance to the consortium virtually in double quick time, taking just around three weeks from the date of submitting application from here. State Port Minister M. Vijayakumar thanked Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony for speeding up the procedures connected with the clearance. The Union Home Ministry’s clearance too is required for the consortium. The State Cabinet, at its weekly meeting on Wednesday, would discuss and decide on what all the State government should do to pave the way for early commencement of the works on the project.

The project would be set up under ‘build-operate-transfer’ condition. The consortium would operate the port for 30 years and then transfer it to the State government, which would have 24 per cent stakes in the project to start with.

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