THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) inked three separate agreements on Monday with the State Bank of Travancore, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board to effectuate the first phase of its development activities.
The agreement made with a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of Travancore will fetch Rs 2,500 crore for the project. Phase-I would involve the construction of a 3.5 km-long breakwater and quays. With the agreement, the SBT will act as the lead bank for the borrowings for the Phase-I of the project. The tentative period of the loan will be 15 years.
The other terms and conditions like schedule of repayment and security will be decided after consultations among the company, the bank and the members of the consortium.
The VISL also signed an MoU with the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RNVL), a subsidiary of Indian Railways, for laying railway track for 10 km, linking the port area to the main railway line at Balaramapuram. The RVNL will be responsible for construction up to the commissioning of the railway line for operation.
The RNVL will undertake the location survey, planning, design, construction of all the structures, earthworks, minor and major bridges, track linking, signalling and overhead electrification in connection with the project.
Another MoU was inked between VISL and KSEB on Monday.
Under this, KSEB would upgrade its Kalayikkavila sub-station to provide 35 MW for the project during its first five years of operation and subsequently hike it to 75 MW in the long term.