Thiruvananthapuram: Port Minister Kadanappally Ramachandran said that the Vizhinjam project would not be dropped. The policy decisions about executing the project would be taken in consultation with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The issues pointed by the CAG will be examined legally, he added. Meanwhile, Kovalam MLA M. Vincent has expressed doubts on the motive of the CAG report on the Vizhinjam transhipment container terminal that alleged that the government had gone out of the way and helped Adani.
Mr Vincent told reporters here on Friday that the person who was consulted by the CAG on the Vizhinjam issue before preparing the report had written articles against the project. There were also doubts whether the report was leaked to the Administrative Reforms Commission Chairman V. S. Achuthanandan who had criticised the agreement even before it was placed in the Assembly.
The chief minister is scheduled to inaugurate the piling for the berth for Vizhijam on June 1 even amidst the controversies. The CAG report had earlier mentioned that the Vizhinjam project was against the interests of the state, pointing out that the 10-year extension of the construction period given to the Adani Group was illegal. Through this, the group would earn an undue profit of Rs 29,217 crore, it said.
