The Kerala government has decided to rope in State Bank of Travancore as leader of a consortium of lenders to raise Rs 2,500 crore for funding the preliminary work on Vizhinjam's trans-shipments terminal in the state, said the project's nodal agency.
A proposal to this regard was approved by the state cabinet, said a statement from the Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL), the nodal agency for the project.
"The Kerala Cabinet has decided to rope in State Bank of Travancore (SBT) as leader of a consortium of banks and financial institutions to raise Rs 2,500 crore for funding the preliminary work on the proposed Vizhinjam international deep-water container trans-shipments terminal near Trivandrum," the statement said.
The SBT is an associate bank of the country's largest lender State Bank of India.
"The cabinet decided that an annual budgetary allocation of Rs 250 crore would be made to the VISL, the special purpose vehicle, to help with the repayment of the long-term loan with tenure of up to 20 years," it added.
The state cabinet also gave in-principle approval to set up a Special Economic Zone for over 120 hectares currently being acquired and another 110 hectares being reclaimed.
VISL is a special purpose company, fully owned and set up by the Kerala government with a mandate to attract private sector participation for the port's development and to set up the external infrastructure.
The state government is convening an investors' meet and a special maritime conclave in the last week of this month.
This would be followed by the publication by the pre-qualification bids by Christmas. The final award of the project is scheduled for February 2011 after assessing the same for techno-feasibility and related parameters.
Other lenders including Dhanlaxmi Bank, South Indian Bank, Federal Bank, State Bank of India and other financial agencies are also likely to contribute loans for the project.
