Nod to Adani on Vizhinjam soon

Thiruvananthapuram: The Letter of Award (LoA), the first communication from the state government to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. (APSEZ), the private operator for the Vizhinjam project, will be issued soon.

As per the draft concession agreement, the LoA has to be issued within one month to the selected operators. The cabinet had cleared the agreement with Adani Ports on June 11.

Adani Ports has been selected for building the superstructure and operating the Vizhinjam International Multi-Purpose Seaport.

Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) CEO A.S. Suresh Babu told Deccan Chronicle that the LoA would be issued after the government order for the same is issued.

The LoA will will ask Adani to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and the company will have to give a security of Rs 120 crore before signing the concession agreement with the government. Incidentally, Adani Ports was the only company to submit the tender for developing the Rs 4,089-crore project through Public Private Partnership.

The cabinet had cleared the maximum eligible grant of 40 percent above the project amount sought by the Adani Ports. This would come to around Rs 1,635 crore. Of this Rs 818 crore will be received as viability gap funding (VGF) from the centre.