Chandy said that the government would get income from the commercial area from the seventh year
In a major decision, the Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the lone bid submitted by Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd for developing the Vizhinjam International Port.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major decision, the Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the lone bid submitted by Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd for developing the Vizhinjam International Port. The Cabinet decided to agree in principle to the recommendations made by a high power committee headed by chief secretary Jiji Thomson and director board of Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL) Vizhinjam port for the Rs 6500 crore project.
At the Cabinet briefing, Chief Minister Mr Oommen Chandy said the official announcement would be made once the Government got approval from the Election Commission in view of the Aruvikkara poll code of conduct. “There is no bar in signing the agreement. The government will go ahead with future steps once we get a nod from the EC,” he said.
Ports Minister K Babu said the government would send the letter of award to the Adani group subject to the EC’s approval. The company will have to then constitute a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with which the agreement would be signed. “The Oommen Chandy Government will gift the Vizhinjam port to the people of the state on November 1, Kerala Piravi Day, by marking the inauguration of construction work at the site”, he said.
Mr Chandy said that the government would get income from the commercial area from the seventh year and other areas from the 15th year onwards. The chief minister refuted allegations that land worth Rs 6000 crores was being sold for just Rs 500 crore. “Not a single cent of land is being sold or given on lease from the entire 206.87 acres land which had been acquired spending Rs 524 crores”.
While the land would be licensed to Adanis for a period of 40 years, the title of ownership will remain with the government. The government expects to get a profit from the commercial area from the seventh year and 1 per cent revenue share from the 15th year of operations. It may be recalled that the Adanis had sought a Rs 1635 crore viability grant fund which would be shared equally by the State and Centre. Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd will invest Rs 2454 crore.
Mr Chandy said the government had planned to take the decision at least two weeks ago but delayed it following CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan’s allegation regarding the "Rs 6000 crore fraud in the project with a total cost of Rs 7825 crore". “We could not arrive at a consensus at all party meeting. “This is the last chance. If we fail we will lose Vizhinjam. There is no similarity between Colachel and Vizhinjam. But there are genuine apprehension they might surpass us because the entire state is behind that project and Tamil Nadu has all kinds of backing,” he said.
He said the state had lost many projects because of controversies. “The young generation is not ready to lose any more projects and we have to do justice to them,” he said. On Kodiyeri Balakrishnan statement that the CPM was not against the project but the manner which it was being implemented, Babu said that the secrecy clause had prevented the government from disclosing details of the commercial agreement including the bid agreement. “After taking legal opinion we have decided to upload these documents on the website,” he said.
He refuted the opposition charge that the port had been handed over to the private sector. “It continues to be a PPP model project. From 9000 TU ships now it has gone up to 18,000 TU, hence the project size has changed,” he said.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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