Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Vizhinjam project faced many obstacles: MVR

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “I am sure the Vizhinjam Deepwater Transhipment Terminal would become a reality soon, as there are only a few minor hurdles before it,” said the former Cooperation and Port Development Minister M.V. Raghavan who had initiated the development project way back in 1991.

Hardly anyone believed that it was possible to set up a transhipment terminal when it was proposed in 1991 during the tenure of K. Karunakaran as Chief Minister. “There were many people across the political landscape who mocked at us for mooting the project,” he told The Hindu. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had opposed the project proposal from the day the Cabinet took the decision. But we went ahead and signed an MoU with the Hyderabad-based Kumar Group of companies. “The CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) which ruled the State from 1996-2001 did not do anything to take the project ahead. The proposal got a fresh lease of life when the UDF came to power in 2001. But, by then, the Kumar Group was disinterested, forcing the government to think about floating a global tender, he said.

Mr. Raghavan also recalled the tours he had undertaken to foreign countries such as South Africa to gather more information about port development, prompting the government to consider establishing a separate company. Thus the Vizhinjam Seaport Ltd. came into being as a fully-owned government company.

It was during his previous tenure that the tenders for the transhipment terminal were processed, but it landed in trouble when the Centre refused to clear it on grounds of security, citing the involvement of the Chinese consortium. “I have had to throw quite a few tantrums to get sufficient budgetary allocation for the proposals,” he observed. He, however, refused to disclose who had put the road blocks. “I don’t want any credit. (for The government should expedite steps to complete it at the earliest.

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