On the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) World Economic Forum-Indian Economic Summit 2011, Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy said that the Central government had asked coastal states to open another major port in the state, in keeping with which the state has proposed Azhikkal port to be developed as a major one. Major ports are controlled by the Indian government and administrated as trusts.
Impact
The minister also revealed that the Vallarpadam terminal is presently bogged down with quite a few operational clogs related to dredging and the cabotage policy. Therefore, with the Azhikkal port entering the scene, there would certainly be stiff competition at volume handling.
According to M Simon, manager at Teofila Logistics, a small-sized Ernakulam based logistics services provider, “The addition of another major port to the state would boost the state. The proximity of the Vallarpadam ICTT would also drive the growth of the new port when it becomes operational. Though there have been some problems plaguing the ICTT since it became operational earlier this year, it will benefit the ports of Kerala immensely.”
With cargo traffic volume set to increase manifold in the days to come, Kerala would certainly gain by the addition of the Azhikkal port.
Priyanka Roy Chowdhury |
The Kerela government has been keen on setting the state’s third port at Azhikkal for sometime, in compliance with the Central government’s directive for coastal states, encouraging setting up more such facilities. If things work out in its favour, Kerala would have three main ports, with the proposed port at Azhikkal, situated in Kunnor district, around 200 km from Vallarpadam, joining the already operational Cochin Port Trust (CPT) and the planned Vizhinjam port. Besides, the state already boasts of the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam, which facilitates transhipment cargo and is a part of CPT.
