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News and information about the Rs 10,000 Crore Vizhinjam Deep Water and Container Transshipment Terminal project being developed on the southern outskirts of Trivandrum.
First, a quick recap of the project.
Vizhinjam has a number of inherent advantages which are strategic and nearly unbeatable in nature:
- A draft of 18 m, just 1 kilometer from the shore and which can be increased upto 25 m with minimal dredging.
- Located on the Southern tip of the sub-continent, it is just 10-12 nautical miles from the busy Persian Gulf - Malacca shipping lanes which carry almost a third of the world shipping traffic.
- Vizhinjam has minimal littoral drift which eliminates the need for major annual dredging, unlike estuarine ports like Cochin.
- It is located within the suburbs of a major city.
- The NH-47 passes just 2 Kms away from the site and the main rail line only 8 Kms away.
Vizhinjam is currently the only port in India capable of achieving a draught of over 18 m without major capital dredging. This makes it the only port in India capable of handling giant ships like today's super-container ships and supertankers.
The port will look to attract the largest container-ships of today for transshipment, like the 12,000 TEU capacity Emma Maersk, which cannot dock at any other Indian port.
As envisaged in the above concept view, Vizhinjam will have the following features:
- Breakwaters up to 6 Km long
- Six berths for motherships
- Up to ten berths for feeder vessels
- 400 acres of container yards and other areas, reclaimed from the sea
- Around 2 Sq.km of basin area
- A basin draft of 18-24 m
- Bunkering facilities
- Dedicated 110 KV sub-station and water treatment plant
- Elevated road and rail connections
First, a quick recap of the project.
According to the developers, the ultimate capacity of the port will be about 6.5 million TEUs. This is about 25% of the capacity of the Port of Singapore, the world's busiest container port.
Lanco-led group bags Rs 8,000-cr project for Vizhinjam port
The consortium led by Hyderabad-based Lanco Kondapalli Power Pvt Ltd (LKPPL) has anchored the first phase contract for the Rs 5,348-crore Vizhinjam Deepwater Container Transhipment Terminal Project, India's first motherport. The first phase is for Rs 2,300-crore infrastructure development.
One may recall that Vizhinjam port project was thrown to retendering tables because Cabinet committee on security had vetoed clearance to the two Chinese partners in consortium-led by Mumbai-based Zoom Developers. This time the qualifying consortium led by the Indian firms Lanco Kondapalli Power and Lanco Infratech has a Malaysian partner Pembinan Redzai group in tow.
The qualifying group had quoted Rs 35 crore less in debt support, state port minister M Vijayakumar said. The Malaysian partner will also require security nod from the Cabinet. The bid selection committee chaired by Kerala chief secretary recommended the consortium headed by Lanco Power. The other consortia were DS Constructions, in association with Apollo Enterprises Ltd and KGL Ports International, Dubai; Nagarjuna Construction Company (Hyderabad), Maytas and OPM (Singapore); Videocon Industries Ltd (Mumbai), Gammon India, Gammon Infra and Sical Logistics; Lanco Infratech (Hyderabad), Lanco Power and Pembinan Redzai Sdn Bdh (Malaysia); and Zoom Developers (Mumbai), Portia Management Services and UK’s Peter Fraenkael and Partners.
Five consortia had been in the last round of the bidding race. The Phase I of the project is envisaged to be complete in three years, the minister said. Work on the first phase is envisaged to be underway within six months. As soon as the state cabinet clears the choice, the procedures will be set in motion for a special purpose vehicle for project implementation, he said.
About 40 companies had picked up RFQ papers for the Phase I of the project. Some of them include Denmark-based Maersk, Australia-based Alberg Ports, Japan-based Nissin Corporation, UK-based Beckett Rankine, Dubai Ports World, Netherlands-based Cyan Holdings BV, US-based Obocon Inc, Kuwait-based KGL Transport, Indonesia-based Astra International and Malaysia-based Pembinan Redzai group.
The Indian firms who took the plunge, in the early rounds, include RIL, ADAG, SCI, Gammon India, Mudra Port and Special Economic Zone, Ashok Leyland Project Services, Emaar MGF Land, Essar Constructions, Soma Enterprises, Zoom Developers and JM Baxi Group.
Vizhinjam has a number of inherent advantages which are strategic and nearly unbeatable in nature:
- A draft of 18 m, just 1 kilometer from the shore and which can be increased upto 25 m with minimal dredging.
- Located on the Southern tip of the sub-continent, it is just 10-12 nautical miles from the busy Persian Gulf - Malacca shipping lanes which carry almost a third of the world shipping traffic.
- Vizhinjam has minimal littoral drift which eliminates the need for major annual dredging, unlike estuarine ports like Cochin.
- It is located within the suburbs of a major city.
- The NH-47 passes just 2 Kms away from the site and the main rail line only 8 Kms away.
Vizhinjam is currently the only port in India capable of achieving a draught of over 18 m without major capital dredging. This makes it the only port in India capable of handling giant ships like today's super-container ships and supertankers.
The port will look to attract the largest container-ships of today for transshipment, like the 12,000 TEU capacity Emma Maersk, which cannot dock at any other Indian port.

As envisaged in the above concept view, Vizhinjam will have the following features:
- Breakwaters up to 6 Km long
- Six berths for motherships
- Up to ten berths for feeder vessels
- 400 acres of container yards and other areas, reclaimed from the sea
- Around 2 Sq.km of basin area
- A basin draft of 18-24 m
- Bunkering facilities
- Dedicated 110 KV sub-station and water treatment plant
- Elevated road and rail connections
