Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Ports M. Vijayakumar said here on Friday that the Dutch and South African governments had evinced interest in investing in the Vizhinjam International Container Transhipment Terminal project.
The Minister told the media that the government had not yet fixed the date for the proposed investors' meeting aimed at attracting private investment for the second phase of the project. (The government is planning to implement the second phase through the build, operate and transfer route.)
Mr. Vijayakumar said the land acquisition for the first phase of the development of the port was almost complete. An amount of Rs.450 crore had been made available for the first phase, costing Rs.1,000 crore, which was being carried out by the government.
He announced that e-tendering would be adopted for development of Azhikal, Ponnani and Beypore ports. The e-tenders for those projects would open on May 19, May 22 and June 9 respectively.
