Tamil Nadu will fully support Rs 27,000 cr Enayam port: Jayalalithaa

Local villagers continue to oppose the project fearing that it will affect their livelihood

In the first high-level meeting since the Centre approved the Rs 27,000 crore trans-shipment port at Enayam, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa assured Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Pon. Radhakrishnan, that her government would extend all the support to the project.

Local villagers have been opposing the project stating that the proposed port will accelerate the erosion of their beach and threaten their livelihood. Those in favour of the project call the opposition politically motivated

The transport minister requested Jayalalithaa to support the commencement of a survey for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for the development of a major port at Enayam (Colachel). He said the port is actually being constructed at a distance of nearly one km from Enayam and that its inhabitants itself will not be affected. The facility will be built by reclaiming land from the sea and no existing habitation will be impacted.

Jayalalithaa responded that right from her first tenure as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, she had been keen on implementing the Colachel Port Project. The lack of support from successive central governments had meant that the project could not be implemented.

The Chief Minister said that her state would provide all necessary support to implement the project.

The 27,000-crore Enayam International Container Transshipment Port was cleared by the Centre this July. First announced in the 1990s, it was a poll promise made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Cabinet approved it on July 6.

The port will be built in three phases and will cover 330 hectares once it is ready in 2030. The state government has also promised jobs and rehabilitation to those whose land will be acquired, but the villagers aren't convinced.

During the meeting, Radhakrishnan also hoped Jayalalithaa would help provide land to establish a rubber research centre in Kanniyakumari, the constiuency that elected Radhakrishnan. The chief minister assured him that the proposal would be expedited.

According to Union Minister of Shipping, Nitin Gadakari, at present, 25 per cent of the cargo from India is trans-shipped to foreign shores, with Tamil Nadu alone accounting for half the volume. He said Enayam port will reduce logistics cost for traders, who currently depend on Colombo or other ports for transshipment. He claimed it would also generate up to Rs 1,500 crore a year in additional revenue for Indian ports. India's trans-shipment traffic currently accounts for 40 per cent of Colombo's volumes.

The government also feels it could leverage the port's strategic location to emerge as a trans-shipment hub for the east-west trade route between Southeast Asia, West Asia and Europe.