The Vizhinjam International Seaport, India’s first deep-water container transhipment port built by the Adani group, is set to be inaugurated today, 15 October. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the port will be a “game changer” for the state’s infrastructure, saying that the port aims to handle one million containers annually, surpassing even Singapore.
The CM further said that the inaugural vessel ‘Zhen Hua 15’ is set to dock at the Vizhinjam International Port on Sunday. The vessel is carrying giant cranes from China which began its journey at the end of August. As India’s first deepwater port built by Adani Port opens, a fight for credit over the port has started between the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress in Kerala.
The inaugural vessel 'Zhen Hua 15' is set to dock at Vizhinjam International Port, India's premier mother port, on October 15th. Boasting container transhipment capabilities and proximity to major shipping routes, it's a game-changer for Kerala's infrastructure and development.… pic.twitter.com/0lOVn5EsiU
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) October 14, 2023
Specifically, the contest between the two parties is over the naming of the port capable of handling the largest container ships in the world. Congress-led UDF has demanded that the port should be named after former CM Oommen Chandy, claiming that the ‘real credit’ for the port should go to him. On the other hand, LDF rejects the Congress claim, saying that the port was initiated during the term of former left CM EK Nayanar.
Congress party is a staunch critic of Gautam Adani and his Adani group, and the left also keeps attacking the Gujarat-based industrialist, but now both want credit for a port built by the Adani Group.
While both the parties are claiming credit for the port, both the parties reminding each other that they had protested against the port. On Saturday, CPI(M) leader MV Govindan said that Congress protested against the Vizhinjam project and even tried to stall it, but the left government backed the project to make it a reality.
He said, “It was EK Nayanar, the former Left chief minister, who envisioned the port 30 years ago. Later, VS Achuthanandan took it forward. The UDF government did not even implement it properly.” He claimed that the project was sabotaged by the Congress-led United Democratic Front govt. He further alleged that UDF had entered into an agreement with the Adani group to make undue profits from the port.
“Because of the agreement entered into by the UDF, Kerala will get only one per cent of the profit from the port (operations), that too after 15 years. The government lost the chance to run the port,” Govindan claimed. The CPI(M) state secretary alleged that UDF came under pressure from the BJP govt at the centre to sign the agreement with the Adani Group.
The left leader said that while the project was initiated under the EK Nayanar government, it was further strengthened during the time of the VS Achuthanandan government, and the infrastructure work was completed during that time. He added that when UDF came to power, it gave the power to Adani Group, otherwise the project would have remained with the Government. MV Govindan claimed that UDF played no role in the project, apart from handing it over to Adani.
Before that, Congress had made allegations against LDF, claiming that CPI(M) had sabotaged the rehabilitation package announced for fishermen by the Chandy government as part of the project. Leader of Opposition VD Satheeshan said that when the LDF was in the opposition, Pinarayi Vijayan had alleged a ₹6000 crore real estate scam in the ₹5000 crore project, adding that now same Pinarayi Vijayan, now CM, is taking credit for the port.
Going ahead with the demand to name the port after Chandy, the Kerala Youth Congress on Saturday even placed a board calling it ‘Oommen Chand International Sea Port’ in front of the harbour, ‘renaming’ the Vizhinjam Seaport Limited.
The Vizhinjam International Seaport is located near the southernmost tip of the country, in Vizhinjam near Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram. This is India’s first deep-water port capable of handling large container ships. At present, most of the shipments to and from India take place via Colombo port, where containers are shifted between large vessels and smaller ships which can be handled by Indian ports.
This is because, large container vessels need deep-water ports, and India’s existing ports are not deep enough. With the opening of Vizhinjam port, India’s dependence on Colombo for transhipment will end, and has the potential to emerge as a major player in the sector. Apart from Colombo, other major transhipment hubs in the Indian Ocean region are Singapore and Dubai.
Vizhinjam port is strategically located on one of the busiest shipping routes in the world and is set to grab a major share of the transhipment market in the Indian Ocean region. It is notable that India is the largest market for transshipment of cargo in the region, and therefore the port is set to attract most of these businesses.
The port has been developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. in collaboration with the Kerala state government. The port is another feather in the cap of Gautam Adani, who is slowly becoming a major player in seaports worldwide and is under constant attack from opposition parties in India and the left-liberal ecosystem in the world. Adani Port recently acquired a 30% stake in Israel’s Haifa port which it is developing, and has plans to build a port in Vietnam.
