Thiruvananthapuram: The Vizhinjam project would overshoot its deadline of December 15, 2019 and will be completed only by October 2020.This has been stated by Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited CEO Rajesh Jha.
The Adani Group, which had entered into a concession agreement with the state on the Vizhinjam project on August 17, 2015, had promised to anchor the first ship at the port within 1,000 days of the commencement of work.
The construction was inaugurated on December 5 the same year. However, it could not adhere to the agreement as the deadline passed on September 1, 2018.
However, as per the agreement the company has time till December 15, 2019 for completing the project. If the deadline is not met, the company will have to pay compensation at the rate of Rs 12 lakh for each day of delay. Though it has approached the government to waive off the compensation, it has not yielded.
Mr Jha told reporters here on Thursday that events like cyclone Ockhi had caused the delay. The cyclone had destroyed 25 percent of the completed works, said Mr Jha.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited Managing Director and CEO Dr Jayakumar said that a 10.7-km railway line, including a 9.02-km tunnel, will connect the upcoming Vizhinjam International Multipurpose Deepwater Seaport to the railway network at Balaramapuram. The tunnel will be the second largest railway tunnel in the railway network in the country, said Dr Jayakumar.
There will be a slight escalation of the cost of the project from Rs 7525 crore to Rs 7,700 crore, said Dr Jayakumar.
Regional Capital City Development Convenor T. Balakrishnan said that a special investment region for developing a business township on the periphery of the 80-km Outer Ring Road (ORR) from Vizhinjam to Parippally was under consideration of the government. The special investment region will trigger development of the state capital. A Bill named special investment region Bill will be brought up for the purpose, said Mr Balakrishnan.CII Thiruvananthapuram zone chairman M.R. Narayanan said that a conference titled port-led industrialisation and community development-leveraging Vizhinjam will be organised at Vivanta on February 18. CII Kerala past chairman P. Ganesh was also present at the press meet.
