The Kerala government has handed over the letter of intent to Lanco Group for the Vizhinjam international container transshipment terminal, following the Centre's security clearance granted earlier in September. The project will be developed by Lanco Infratech Ltd in consortium with Pembinan Redzai Sdn Bhd of Malaysia. The licence agreement will be signed in the next four-six weeks and the special purpose vehicle that will implement the project will be incorporated thereafter. The state government will hold a minority 24 per cent stake in the SPV with the developer consortium holding the remainder.
The $2-billion project involves the development of a modern international container transshipment port. The Kerala government has formed Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd that will act as the grantor of concession and will also be responsible for providing rail and road connectivity to the proposed transshipment hub.
To be developed in four phases, the ultimate capacity of the Vizhinjam terminal would be 6.5 million teu. In phase-I, expected to commission by 2012-end, an investment of Rs 2,800 crore is expected. Preliminary activities like DPR preparation, securing of environment-related clearances and attaining financial closure is to take 12-18 months, followed by start of construction activities.
On completion, Vizhinjam Port is expected to lure a major share of transshipment container traffic that is currently done through Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.