A view of the Vizhinjam International Sea Port from the breakwater of the port, in Thiruvananthapuram.
Credit: PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is all likely to witness major development initiatives in the coming days as Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally commissions the Vizhinjam international seaport, the first deep-water container transhipment port of the country, on Friday.
Situated on the southern tip of India, the port has already proved its significance in the global maritime map by attracting around 285 ships, including the biggest ones in the world and handling around 5.9 lakh TEU of containers ever since it started trial operations in July 2024.
Since road and rail connectivity to the port are yet to be established, the port will initially act as a transhipment hub. Once the road and rail connectivities are established, the port will open the doors for gateway cargo. Already, the state government had announced projects like a 78-kilometre outer area growth corridor and Vizhinjam-Kollam-Punalur industrial corridor spanning 1,456 square kilometres to tap the investment opportunities that the port opens up.
Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry president S N Raghuchandran Nair told DH that many private investments were in the pipeline, and once the port is formally commissioned, there could be major developments. "Kerala, especially Thiruvananthapuram, will develop as a major port city of the world in the days to come," he said.
Industry sources also point out that Tamil Nadu will also get direct benefit from the port, as it is close to the southern parts of Tamil Nadu, where land availability is much more viable than that in Kerala.
Vizhinjam port has been a long-pending dream of Kerala, with the initial proposal for the port dating back to the time of the Travancore princely state in the 1940s. The natural depth of 20 metres and proximity to the international shipping route make Vizhinjam an ideal spot for mother ships.
After a long gap, the Vizhinjam port proposal again came up in the 1990s with the then ports minister M V Raghavan taking it up. After many hurdles, the agreement for developing the port was inked in 2015 with Adani Ports for developing and operating the port.
The port became operational last year after its first phase of development was completed in December 2024 with a container handling capacity of one million TEU per annum. Once all four phases of development of the port are completed by 2028, it will be able to handle 3 million TEU containers.
Even as the state will get a profit share from the port from 2035 only, the state is already getting revenue from taxes on port operations. So far, the state has received nearly Rs 50 crore as tax from the port operations. A total of 755 direct jobs were already created by the port.