VISL MD: Colachel not a threat to Vizhinjam

‘Cooperative competition between two ports a good thing’

It is advantage Vizhinjam now.

The Vizhinjam International Multi-purpose Deepwater Seaport has early-bird advantage, compared to the proposed Colachel port in adjoining Tamil Nadu, Jayakumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. (VISL), has said.

He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Kerala Regional Chapter of Institute of Town Planners, India, on the occasion of World Town Planning Day here on Wednesday.

“There is enough cake for both Vizhinjam and Colachel, if and when the Colachel project materialises,” Mr. Jayakumar said. The ‘cooperative competition’ between the two ports in the two States would be a good thing, he observed.

Transshipment hub

The VISL CEO talked about the advantages of Vizhinjam as a transshipment hub.

The first phase of the sea port project, which includes construction of a 3.1-km breakwater, an 800-m container berth, and fishing harbour, will be completed by December 2019.

Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology( CEPT), Ahmedabad, which was entrusted to study the development pressure of the Vizhinjam project on the neighbouring areas, has identified 260-sq km area as the influence zone of delineation in their first report.