Cochin Port to get cruise terminal

₹25.72-cr. facility to come up in 2020

Cruise vessel Quantum of The Seas arriving at the Cochin Port Trust.

A ₹25.72-crore cruise terminal having facilities to handle 5,000 tourists will come up at the Ernakulam Wharf of Cochin Port by February 2020.

The work order has been issued to the contractor for commencing the construction on the terminal, the port trust said in a release.

Passenger lounges

The facilities at the 2,253 sq. metre terminal would include passenger and crew lounges, immigration counters, tourist information counter and duty-free shopping. The estimated cost of construction of the terminal is ₹25.72 crore. Of this, ₹21.41 crore had been sanctioned as grant by the Union Tourism Ministry.

Being one of the prime cruise tourism destinations in the country, Cochin Port had been getting about 40 cruise liners every year bringing tens of thousands of high net worth international tourists to Kerala, the port trust said. Union Tourism Minister Alphons Kannanthanam had recently visited the port and reviewed the progress of projects supported by his department.