Editor’s Synopsis
- APSEZ lays foundation stone at Vizhinjam, Kerala, to develop India’s First International Deepwater Seaport Project.
- Foundation stone laid by Sri Oommen Chandy, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala in the presence of Sri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Union Minister for Transport, Highways and Shipping and Sri Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group
- The Adani Vizhinjam Port will provide access to the most prominent international waterways, and position India as a top global transhipment hub.
- World Class Port Project to be completed in record time of 1000 days and will be another major step towards achieving APSEZ’s vision of annually handling 200 million tons of cargo by 2020
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 05, 2015: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, (APSEZ), India’s largest port developer and part of the Adani Group, today formally began development of India’s first ever and ambitious international transhipment project in Vizhinjam, Kerala. It shall be completed within the stipulated time period of four years.
Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Oommen Chandy, along with Union Minister for Transport, Highways and Shipping, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Chairman of Adani Group, Mr. Gautam Adani and other dignitaries from the Government of Kerala laid the foundation stone at the ground breaking ceremony at the proposed international port site in Vizhinjam. The project will be Kerala’s first ever deep water container transhipment port.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, said, “We are honored by the trust bestowed on us by the Government of Kerala. Developing India’s First International Deepwater Seaport Project in a record time of just one thousand days is another opportunity for us to fulfill our commitment to Nation Building. Given Vizhinjam’s access to prominent international waterways, the project will be a significant catalyst in positioning India strategically as a global transhipment hub. It will also help us in accelerating our journey towards achieving our vision of annually handling 200 million tons of cargo by 2020.”
APSEZ is the country’s largest port company with footprint across the Indian seashore. It has proven expertise in building, operating and maintaining world class port infrastructure. APSEZ operates ports in Mundra, Hazira, Tuna-Tekra (Kandla) and Dahej, in Gujarat, Dhamra in Odisha and operates specialized coal handling facilities in Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It is currently setting up a container terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu.
At present, more than one million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of Indian cargo get transshipped annually through foreign ports, such as Colombo in Sri Lanka.