THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has plans to invest a lion’s share of the proposed Rs 20,000 cr in Vizhinjam International Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram (VIST) in order to become the world’s largest port operator by 2030. Rajesh Jha, managing director and CEO of Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd, said that the group will invest `11,000 crore alone to complete phases II and III of the VISL, in the overall scheme for capacity expansion of ports under the APSEZ and their future acquisitions.
“We have invested Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 crore in phase I. We will be investing another Rs 11,000 crore exclusively in phases II and III of VIST. VIST gets more investment because it is a greenfield project where the scope of future expansion is very high,” said Jha.
His comments came after Karan Adani, CEO of APSEZ, announced his investment strategy during the reception of the first ship at VIST, on Sunday. Adani described the arrival of the first ship at VIST as reminiscent of the historic berthing of the first ship at Mundra. “We are committed to not only recreating a Mundra scale of development but also creating an even larger scale of opportunity for the people and state of Kerala,” said Adani.
He said the port project is expected to generate employment for over 5,500 people through direct and indirect jobs.
Jha echoed a similar belief in the future prospects of VIST. “VIST offers huge potential for the state. It goes a long way in employment generation and empowering the lives of the people in the area,” added Jha.
According to him, VIST could handle even 5 million TEU of cargo as against the plan of 3 million TEU, if executed properly. He said the environmental clearance for the next phase will be obtained by April- May and it would take another 36 months to finish the works.
The VIST will start assessing the employment potential for phases II and III after getting the environmental clearance. The commissioning of phase I is expected by December 4.