Vizhinjam International Seaport’s Phase II & III likely to be operational by 2028

THIRUVANANTHPURAM : A team of officials from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change has begun a study to assess the environmental impact of phase II and phase III of Vizhinjam International Seaport.

The team is expected to complete the study by the end of March and only on the basis of the report environmental clearance can be given to Adani Vizhinjam Private Port Limited (AVPPL) to go ahead with the construction of the second and third phases of the port.

“The ministry has already issued the terms of reference (TOR) and the study is only on the conditions of the TOR. We will get the clearance by August and in Oct we will be able to start the work on the second and third phases of the port project,” said an official of AVPPL.

The deadline for finishing the second and third phases of the project was 2045. However, the state government has asked AVPPL to complete the construction by 2028. The state had set some other conditions as well to sign a tripartite agreement to get the Rs 818 crore viability gap released to the AVPPL from the center.

The Adani firm has agreed to the conditions set for signing the pact, the official added. One of the conditions was to withhold Rs 219 crore from the equity support deposited by AVPPL. However, Rs 175.2 crore will be refunded to AVPPL if the project is completed in 2028.

“We have fully agreed with the conditions set by the state to sign the tripartite agreement. The state government’s decision to advance the deadline by 17 years is a great move. Why should we wait till 2045 when we are capable of completing the project by 2028? ’’ the official said.

It has been estimated that the second and third phases would require an investment of Rs 10,000 crore by AVPPL.

“Initially, the deadline of 2045 was fixed in 2014 when the project was in the initial stages. We were able to complete the first phase of the project faster than expected and it is possible to complete the second and third phases by 2028,” the official said.

For the second and third phases, we have to construct an additional 1000m breakwater which is not a herculean task when we look at the speed at which 3,000km breakwater was constructed in the first phase. On average, we were able to complete 750m every year and four years is more than enough to complete 1,000m if we construct 500m per year, he added.