Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), part of the Adani Group, today said it has started construction of the first berth at the country's ambitious international transhipment project in Vizhinjam, Kerala.
A groundbreaking ceremony was organised to mark the occasion by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and was presided over by Ramachandran Kadannapally, Minister for Ports, Museums, Archaeology and Archives, in the presence of Karan Adani, CEO, APSEZ and others, the company said in a statement.
"The port is very strategically located for access to prominent international waterways, this project will enable India to be strategically positioned as a global transhipment hub. It will also help us in accelerating our journey towards achieving our vision," APSEZ CEO Karan Adani said.
The project will be Kerala's first-ever deep water container transhipment port, with a deep draft of 20.5m and the first phase of the berth being constructed will be 800 m in length.
The project is moving as per schedule, reaching the half way milestone post the successful land reclamation stage and is well on course to be completed within the stipulated time period of four years.
The transhipment port is located 16 kms south of Thiruvananthapuram. The port location is selected to tap the potential of development as a deep water international multi- cargo port.
The proposed site is on the international shipping route connecting Europe, Persian Gulf and the Far East, very close to the east-west shipping axis within 10 nautical miles.
APSEZ is the country's largest port company with footprints across the Indian coastline with presence across ten locations. It has 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, Katupalli in Chennai and operates specialised coal handling facilities in Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Apart from the transhipment hub in Vizinjham, it is also 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.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
