MEGAPROJECT: Vizhinjam Container Transshipment Terminal | Under Development

[ajithv]

http://t.co/2lMiVnM0

[Rajeev_gs]

Nationalised banks are now gearing up to open their branches in and around new vizhinjam ( Mukkola & Mulloor ). Syndicate Bank already started their Branch with ATM. Bank of India Branch with ATM will be opened shortly. Interior works are on now. Axis bank is also expected to come in the same building. Today PNB announced their new branch in Vizhinjam with an ATM. Location not known. Possibly again at Mukkola .

[TVM2020]

REASONS FOR LOW PRODUCTIVITY OF INDIAN PORTS

Improvement of productivity parameters, increasing of port draught and taking up modernisation and expansion at a faster clip remain a challenge. And these are taking a toll on the productivity of the ports.

Last year, the Parliament Committee on Estimates, in a report, had pointed out the turnaround time had improved from 10.10 days in 1990-91 to 3.85 days in 2009-10. But this is a far cry from ports such as Hong Kong, where the ship turnaround time is less than 10 hours.

Says Mr Janardhana Rao: “One of the biggest challenges is draught (as inadequate draught prevents ports to handle bigger ships). Out target in the current Plan is to ensure all ports have a minimum draught of 14 mt and hub ports such as JNPT, Cochin, Chennai and Visakhapatnam, 17 mt.”

Indian ports have also been lagging in meeting capacity-addition targets. In the 11{+t}{+h} Plan, about 276 projects envisaging an investment of Rs 1,00,339 crore (based on 2004-05 prices) had been proposed — of this Rs 55,804 crore is for the port sector and the rest for shipping and inland water transport sectors. But, out of the 276 projects, only about 55-odd projects involving a capacity of about 70 mt are complete, while about 80 other projects are under implementation.

Even the Parliamentary Committee in its report had noted “with dismay” that the Government has not been able to create adequate capacity. “The committee fails to understand as to why not even 25 per cent of the targeted projects could not be achieved under the NMDP (National Maritime Development Programme),” the report points out.

“Capacity-addition projects should be speeded up, as the port sector is expected to handle 3.2 billion tonnes of traffic by 2020, from the current 1.1 billion,” admits Mr Rao.

With ports playing a crucial role in facilitating external trade, which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of India's GDP, this sector should take to a faster course of growth.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...ue&ref=wl_home

Here lies a potential port with 17+ metres of draft , near international shipping route & once developed in the most modern manner, can match and exceed the turn around time of ports like Hong Kong / Singapore.

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by TVM2020

Here lies a potential port with 17+ metres of draft , near international shipping route & once developed in the most modern manner, can match and exceed the turn around time of ports like Hong Kong / Singapore.

Unfortunately, seems that the powers-that-be cannot see the trees in the forest.

[Ajaypp]

Fortunately, not everyone is as blind as most of our netas.

Ganagandharvan K.J. Yesudas on Wednesday met Archbishop Soosapakiam and sought his counsel in taking forward the State’s prestigious Vizhinjam international transshipment container terminal, a top item on Deccan Chronicle’s first anniversary Kerala 1st development agenda.

Dr Soosapakiam assured Yesudas that he would soon visit the project site in coastal Vizhinjam and educate his folks there on the importance of this naturally endowed blue water terminal and hear them out on the project implementation.

Yesudas handed over the project feasibility report, prepared by Janapaksham, an NGO, dovetailing development and rehab with minimum the dislocation of people.

Yesudas urged all political parties to stand united and ensure that the evictees and other stakeholders were given shares in the project. The rehab should focus on infrastructure. “The Rs 4,010-crore Vizhinjam port, once commissioned, would be one of the finest and boost the country’s maritime trade”, said Yesudas.

Source

[ajithv]

Source: Malayala Manorama

[RajeshVR]

K.J.Jesudas: The Brand Ambassador of Vizhinjam Port.

[RajeshVR]

Be selfish about Vizhinjam project: K J Yesudas


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vizhinjam seaport project should be pursued with all seriousness as it would prove to be the ‘Gateway of India,’ but fisherfolk in the region should be rehabilitated properly before the first stone for the project is laid, playback legend K J Yesudas said on Wednesday.
The singer, replying to a felicitation by the Kerala Legislative Assembly on his completing 50 years of playback singing, said Keralites should be a little selfish about this particular project since it would prove a blessing to posterity.
Yesudas, taking a brief trip down memory lane, recollected the golden rule laid down for him by his father Augustine Joseph - ‘’He told me, ‘you should not become a member of any party, club or organisation. Meditate on music alone.’ Maybe, it was because I held fast to it, you are now showering me with your blessings,’’ he said.
He also sang the first lines of ‘Jaathibhedam Mathadvesham...,’ written by Sree Narayana Guru for which he first lent his voice in a film.
Speaker G Karthikeyan described Yesudas as a singer nonpareil who has captivated the hearts of Malayalis like no other. No other singer has shaped the Malayalis’ taste for music as Yesudas has done, he said. ‘’He is truly a national treasure that Malayalis can be proud of,’’ Karthikeyan said.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who inaugurated the function, said Yesudas’s love for humanity and emphasis on religious harmony made him a great human being. ‘’His is a talent that has surprised all. He has sung in almost all of the Indian languages. He has won the national awards seven times and the State awards, 43 times. His achievements are all-time records,’’ Chandy said.
It was through Yesudas’s voice that the beauty of the Malayalam language was most sublimely expressed, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan said.
Ministers P K Kunhalikutty and K M Mani, MLAs C Divakaran, A A Azeez, A K Saseendran, M V Sreyams Kumar and Anoop Jacob and Deputy Speaker N Shakthan also spoke.
Topics:K J Yesudas

[vjfile]

Yesudas Rocks !

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by vjfile

Yesudas Rocks !

+1

[psanthosh]

here also issue is Cabotage rules..

Will Vizhinjam be able to get Cabotage relaxation?

Mr Babu is confident that Vizhinjam will. “Cabotage rules have to change and they will, if not today, then tomorrow.”



http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3317799.ece

[Rajesh SM]

Originally Posted by psanthosh

here also issue is Cabotage rules..

Will Vizhinjam be able to get Cabotage relaxation?

Mr Babu is confident that Vizhinjam will. “Cabotage rules have to change and they will, if not today, then tomorrow.”



http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3317799.ece

I think Government of Kerala & VISL is moving ahead based on IFC's and Drewry's report and not Kanjirappally Vinson Kurien's & Kochi Sajeev kumar's report.

Now come to the point:

1. Cabotage Law

Yes the relaxation of cabotage law is important for any transhipment port in the country. But it doesn't means that only relaxation of cabotage law makes a trashipment port success. Other factors like minimal dredging or deep draft holds much importance in making a port viable.

2. Azhikkal & Beypore port

Development of Azhikkal & Beypore is going to affect your pet rather than vizhinjam. It is clear there in the feasibility report prepared for vizhinjam.

Anyway thanks for posting this report highlighting, in the case of vizhinjam only cabotage law is the problem but for some other's there are much more problems than this.

[Tri Man]

Originally Posted by psanthosh

here also issue is Cabotage rules..

Will Vizhinjam be able to get Cabotage relaxation?

Mr Babu is confident that Vizhinjam will. “Cabotage rules have to change and they will, if not today, then tomorrow.”

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3317799.ece

Sabotage games are more cruitial than Cabotage laws in case of Vizhinjam Port.
They were unsuccessful in starting the project despite a decade long effort.

[RajeshVR]

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by RajeshVR

I fail to understand why even the negotiation process is being dragged out so much. It should have been a matter of days not weeks or months. I suppose our Government has bigger fish to fry, lol!

[ajithv]

http://t.co/cK8K6tWl

[ajithv]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vizhinjam is among ten ports in the State that will soon get tide gauges. The new equipment will also assess other parameters such as temperature, wind speed and wind direction which would benefit both the port as well as other stakeholders such as fishermen, Port officials said.

"The gauges are primarily for assessing details regarding the tides. But they will also gauge humidity, temperature, wind speed and wind direction,’’ said Ports additional director Capt Hari Achutha Warrier. The equipment, for which orders have been placed, locally ‘senses’ the parameters.

Ten ports, including Vizhinjam, Thangassery, Alappuzha, Kodungallur, Beypore, Azheekal and Kasargod, will get the new equipment, Port officials said. Vizhinjam is also one of 17 ports identified by the state government for development to facilitate coastal shipping in future.

Vessels bound for Maldives with vegetables and other cargo use the small port at Vizhinjam. However, lack of facilities here has been cited as one reason for much of the business moving to Tuticorin.

But if things go as planned, the existing port at Vizhinjam will soon go on an expansion mode. Under the current proposal, both wharves at the port will be expanded. The old wharf will be extended on three sides; 10 metres in the front, 25 metres towards the left and 10 metres on the right side. The length of the new wharf will be extended by 13 metres from the current 87 metres to 100 metres, sources said.

Source

[prakas]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 18: The Kerala Government has asked the Welspun consortium, sole bidder for the Vizhinjam port and container terminal project, to put up a revised offer.This came about after the bid-negotiating committee constituted by the State Government met here yesterday.Led by Welspun Infratech, the consortium will have to rework the financial bid and submit the ‘best offer’ within a week, sources said.The consortium had sought an upfront grant of Rs 479.54 crore from the State Government over a period of 16 years for operating the project.Being proposed as a landlord port, Vizhinjam will see the State Government invest Rs 3,040 crore in setting up the basic infrastructure.
The infrastructure and assets will be leased to the private operator who will invest Rs 970 crore on building the superstructure and installing other equipment. It is on this count that the Welspun consortium has asked for an upfront grant.It was the only bidder left in the fray after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs denied security clearance to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, the other contender. Both had entered the penultimate stage of the bidding.The bid-negotiating committee comprised Mr Sanjay Garg, Secretary, Law; Mr R. K. Singh, Secretary, Ports; and Mr A. S. Suresh Babu, Chief Executive Officer, Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd.

Source http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...ry-and-economy

[remobecks]

Just heard on ACV news that Welspun will be the Port Operator.According to ACV Welspun has agreed terms with GoK proposal .Don't know much. fingers crossed !!!

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by remobecks

Just heard on ACV news that Welspun will be the Port Operator.According to ACV Welspun has agreed terms with GoK proposal .Don't know much. fingers crossed !!!

Any updates on this? I spoke with someone involved with the project and he couldn't confirm the same. It seems an awfully short time frame for Welspun to respond to the Government's request for a revised offer. Fingers crossed, anyways!