Vizhinjam port: Kerala CM hails landmark maritime gateway to global trade

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and others during the inauguration of the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram in a screengrab from a video released by PMO on May 2, 2025
| Photo Credit: PMO

The Vizhinjam International Seaport is the result of the “collective will and determination demonstrated” by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.

“Now, this is not just the opening of a port gate but the opening of the country’s grand gateway to the development potential of the third millennium, a grand initiative that will link India to the global maritime trade logistics map,” said Mr. Vijayan in his presidential address during the commission ceremony here on Friday (May 2, 2025).

“This is the first time in India that a major port is being built on the initiative of a State government,” he said. The State is bearing ₹5,370.86 crore out of the total project cost of ₹8,686 crore. The remaining ₹2,497 crores is being spent by Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited. The Centre is providing a viability gap fund of ₹818 crore. The port now can arrest the national loss of 220 million dollars per year due to 75% of the container transshipment cargo from the country being diverted to foreign ports, he said.

The Vizhinjam port will check the flow of container transshipment cargo to foreign ports from the country, and it is a matter of pride for all Keralites that the State could make up for the national loss to a large extent, said Mr. Vijayan.

He also said that the project was formulated by the Left Democratic Front government in 1996.

The project, which was in limbo for some time, received momentum in 2009 with the International Finance Corporation being tasked to study the project. Although the tender process was initiated in 2010, the Centre denied permission at that stage. Though an agreement was signed in 2015, it faced a lot of criticism at many levels. However, despite all the criticism, the LDF government, which came to power in 2016, took the position that the Vizhinjam project should be implemented, said Mr. Vijayan.

“A policy adopted was that there should be no political division in its development. Accordingly, the government took a stand that Vizhinjam should be developed into a major port. This was followed by a series of impediments that thwarted the progress of the construction, including the 2018 floods, other natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic that shook the economy. However, Kerala did not stop there, and the concessionaire also cooperated well to take the project forward,” he said.

“Now, the project is a realisation of the determination of a government. I also extend my congratulations to the Adani Group for executing this mission with excellence,” he said. 

More than 5,000 direct jobs are also created as part of the port project. The State will ensure that more people will benefit from the port project, along with the project enhancing the development of Kerala and all of India, he added.