Tapping Vizhinjam’s potential
Vizhinjam can be developed as a mega container trans-shipment terminal, given its geographical location, natural deep water environment and comparatively much lower cost of approach channel maintenance.
Jose Paul
Recent reports suggest that the South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries is building the world’s largest container ship of 16,000 TEU with 20 per cent more capacity than the current largest container ships of 13,000 TEU. With a length of 400 metres, drawing a draught of 18 m when fully loaded, this behemoth is expected to begin regular service by 2011.
By that time, it is expected that about 200 giant container ships of 10,000 TEU capacity and above are likely to be in active service. These giant ships may draw a draught ranging from 15-18 m and they will be very selective in their port calls. Putting it in context
Concept designs for building even larger container ships are already on the drawing board and they may draw draught up to 20 metres. The attractiveness of Vizhinjam as a mega container trans-shipment terminal becomes relevant in this context. The current port development plans on the East and the West coasts of India do not seem to envisage a deep water port capable of permitting draught of 20 m or even more. Vizhinjam appears to be in a unique position in the extreme south-west coast of India, capable of providing such deep water within about just three km from the shore line.
Once a huge break water is constructed and one-time capital dredging is completed, in view of the relatively low littoral drift and natural deep water environment, the expenditure to be incurred on annual maintenance dredging to keep the access channel deep enough to permit ships drawing a draught of 20 m is reported to be comparatively insignificant.
The new container terminal that is coming up at Vallarpadam in Kochi is designed to permit container ships of 8,000 TEU drawing a draught of 14.5 m and in order to permit such vessels to enter the new terminal Cochin port will have to not only deepen but also widen the channel from 175 m to 280 m and lengthen it from 11 to 14 km.
On a rough estimate, the CPT will have to incur a maintenance dredging cost of at least about Rs 80 crore every year from the year 2010 when the new terminal becomes operational. The fact that Vizhinjam may be able to provide vessels drawing a draught of 20 m at less than one-fifth of the cost at Kochi is yet another attraction for Vizhinjam to emerge as a mega container trans-shipment terminal in the entire South Asian region.A strong case
One of the key requirements of any port to be developed as a container transshipment terminal is its geographical location. The most profitable route in international container shipping is the Asia- Europe route. All the present giant container ships, such as the Ebba Maersk, are deployed on this route and such ships generally load to full capacity in view of the booming trade with China. Since China and India are going to be the economic power houses to the world and the key manufacturing bases for America and the Europe, bigger and larger vessels are more likely to be deployed on this route.
Once these giant box ships leave the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Hong Kong the next port of call is Singapore and after Singapore there is no other Asian port where such super large container ships call at before they pass through the Suez Canal and reach the Mediterranean ports.
Vizhinjam, in close proximity of the international shipping route involving a diversion of just 20 nautical miles, could become a desirable stopover for such vessels before they proceed to transit the Suez. It is pertinent to bear in mind that the Government of Sri Lanka is putting its best efforts to take up construction of Colombo’s South Harbour project to make it the newest and the most competitive port in South Asia precisely to attract such giant container ships as an ideal transshipment base.
While Colombo’s South Harbour Project could possibly offer a draught of 18 m, Vizhinjam could still be ahead, offering deeper waters in a more competitive environment. International shipping companies will certainly factor in India’s fast growing economy and the consequent increase in trade volumes and also the fact that 80 per cent of all Colombo’s traffic is transshipped from Indian ports. The emergence of a mega port in Vizhinjam could result in such traffic not finding its way to Colombo but naturally to an Indian port.
Can a mega container transshipment terminal survive depending entirely on transshipment traffic?
While it would be desirable to have a local cargo base to ward off uncertainties in an environment of fluctuating traffic, there are ports that depend almost entirely on transshipment cargo. For the world’s 19th largest container port, namely Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, which handles 5 million TEU annually, transshipment traffic accounts for 94 per cent of its total cargo traffic. Other advantages too
The long list of attractions of Vizhinjam does not seem to stop with its favourable geographical location, natural deep water environment and comparatively much lower cost of channel maintenance.
Vizhinjam, being a minor port, falls under the maritime jurisdiction of the State of Kerala and also falls outside the jurisdiction of the Tariff Authority for major ports.
The private investor will have freedom to fix his tariff based on the competitive market environment. Most of the land required could be reclaimed from the sea, necessitating much less rehabilitation and relocation of the inhabitants. It being a greenfield environment, the investor will not be burdened with the takeover of existing labour and the attendant problems associated with such takeover.
The new image emerging of Kerala as an investor-friendly Government should also come as a refreshing contrast to a State that had received a lot of negative publicity. Kerala, with 100 per cent literacy, endowed with skilled manpower, has a huge number of technically trained personnel who are working at ports of the UAE and Malaysia. They would be willing to return home to organise a highly productive and efficient operating team.
To cap it all, the qualified info-tech personnel of Kerala could provide an excellent IT back-up and innovative operating and support systems. When all the favourable factors are properly harnessed it should be possible for the proposed mega container transshipment terminal at Vizhinjam to offer a service quality that is unparalleled, an operational efficiency that is unmatched and a port performance that is unequalled in any port of the world.(The author, a former Chairman, Mormugao Port Trust, is a visiting professor, Manipal University, Karnataka. drjospaul@rediffmail.com)
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Upcoming Gangavaram port
Upcoming Gangavaram port weans away top client from nearby Vizag
The private port is expected to eat into business of government-owned ports when it is operational next year
P. Manoj
Mumbai: A new private port, billed as India’s deepest, coming up at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh will start operations in April next year and has already poached a top customer from the rival Union government-owned Vizag port which is just 15km away.
The move will boost the new port’s ability to win more customers even before it is fully operational.
Gangavaram Port Ltd, a special purpose company floated by D. Venkata Satyanarayana Raju, the former co-founder of India’s fourth largest IT services firm Satyam Computer Services Ltd, has already signed a deal with the state-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd that runs the 3 million tonne (mt) capacity Vizag Steel Plant.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Vizag Steel Plant for their import/export requirements,” said Pranav Choudhary, vice- president (finance), Gangavaram Port Ltd. Officials at Vizag Steel confirmed the decision.
Vizag Steel currently imports about 4mt a year of coking coal, limestone, thermal coal and other such raw materials for its steel plant through the Vizag port. The imports will rise to more than 6mt a year after the steel plant doubles its capacity to 6.3mt by October 2009. Vizag Steel also exports about one lakh tonnes of finished steel products to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, the UAE and the US through the Vizag port.
This cargo will shift from Vizag port to Gangavaram port, thus eroding the business of the top ranking Union government-owned port. Vizag port handles the highest volume of cargo among all the 12 government-run ports in India. In the 12 months to March 2007, it handled 56.39mt of cargo out of a total traffic of 463.84mt.
“Gangavaram would be next door neighbour to Vizag Steel. We will build conveyors to take the imported raw materials directly to the plant, thus avoiding dependence on railways for moving the cargo from the port to the plant. This will also help cut the extra time and costs involved in hauling the cargo by rail from port to the plant,” Choudhary said. Because of the high level of mechanization in cargo handling, the port will help customers cut handling costs.
Being a port owned by the state government, the private operator of Gangavaram port is free to fix its own tariffs without consulting a regulator, whereas the rates for the 12 government-owned ports including Vizag are set by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports.
Gangavaram port would thus be able to fix competitive rates to lure customers away from Vizag port.
The new port will have a depth of 21m (the deepest among any Indian ports) and will be capable of handling super capesize vessels of up to 200,000 tonnes, helping users such as Vizag Steel to save on ocean freight costs. Capesize vessels can carry much larger volumes of dry bulk commodities such as steel, iron ore and coal.
“At this depth, Vizag Steel can bring their cargoes on capesize bulk carriers and achieve economies of scale since larger quantities of cargo can be transported at a time. This will lead to cheaper freight costs,” says T.V. Shanbhag, adviser with Mumbai-based shipping company Mercator Lines Ltd.
Vizag Steel currently ships raw materials on handymax carriers (that can load up to 50,000 tonnes) because the depth at Vizag port cannot accommodate bigger vessels. The inner harbour of Vizag port where most of its cargo handling berths are located has a depth of 11m.
Vizag port plans to deepen the inner harbour to 14m to accommodate panamax carriers that can typically carry 73,000-75,000 tonnes of dry bulk commodities. Still, it would be nowhere near the new port in terms of depth.
Gangavaram port is being developed in three phases with a capacity to handle 100mt of cargo when fully operational. The 35mt capacity, phase one development comprises five berths, one each for handling coal and iron ore and three multi-purpose berths for handling other bulk and general cargo.
A consortium of 13 banks led by State Bank of India has lent Rs1,170 crore to Gangavaram Port Ltd for funding the phase one development.
D.V.S Raju, who was also founder-chairman of Hyderabad-based IT services firm VisualSoft Technologies Ltd, has roped in the Dubai-government owned port operator DP World to develop and operate the port for a 30-year period.
Fearing that the development of Gangavaram would harm the prospects of Vizag port, the Union shipping ministry had earlier proposed a joint venture between Vizag port and the private operator of Gangavaram port.
But this was rejected by the previous Andhra Pradesh government headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was a key constituent of the then ruling National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre. The NDA government also agreed to transfer about 1,400 acres of land belonging to the state-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd for developing the new port.
Vizag is the industrial nerve centre of Andhra Pradesh and is regarded as the gateway for trade with China and the Asean region
The private port is expected to eat into business of government-owned ports when it is operational next year
P. Manoj
Mumbai: A new private port, billed as India’s deepest, coming up at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh will start operations in April next year and has already poached a top customer from the rival Union government-owned Vizag port which is just 15km away.
The move will boost the new port’s ability to win more customers even before it is fully operational.
Gangavaram Port Ltd, a special purpose company floated by D. Venkata Satyanarayana Raju, the former co-founder of India’s fourth largest IT services firm Satyam Computer Services Ltd, has already signed a deal with the state-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd that runs the 3 million tonne (mt) capacity Vizag Steel Plant.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Vizag Steel Plant for their import/export requirements,” said Pranav Choudhary, vice- president (finance), Gangavaram Port Ltd. Officials at Vizag Steel confirmed the decision.
Vizag Steel currently imports about 4mt a year of coking coal, limestone, thermal coal and other such raw materials for its steel plant through the Vizag port. The imports will rise to more than 6mt a year after the steel plant doubles its capacity to 6.3mt by October 2009. Vizag Steel also exports about one lakh tonnes of finished steel products to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, the UAE and the US through the Vizag port.
This cargo will shift from Vizag port to Gangavaram port, thus eroding the business of the top ranking Union government-owned port. Vizag port handles the highest volume of cargo among all the 12 government-run ports in India. In the 12 months to March 2007, it handled 56.39mt of cargo out of a total traffic of 463.84mt.
“Gangavaram would be next door neighbour to Vizag Steel. We will build conveyors to take the imported raw materials directly to the plant, thus avoiding dependence on railways for moving the cargo from the port to the plant. This will also help cut the extra time and costs involved in hauling the cargo by rail from port to the plant,” Choudhary said. Because of the high level of mechanization in cargo handling, the port will help customers cut handling costs.
Being a port owned by the state government, the private operator of Gangavaram port is free to fix its own tariffs without consulting a regulator, whereas the rates for the 12 government-owned ports including Vizag are set by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports.
Gangavaram port would thus be able to fix competitive rates to lure customers away from Vizag port.
The new port will have a depth of 21m (the deepest among any Indian ports) and will be capable of handling super capesize vessels of up to 200,000 tonnes, helping users such as Vizag Steel to save on ocean freight costs. Capesize vessels can carry much larger volumes of dry bulk commodities such as steel, iron ore and coal.
“At this depth, Vizag Steel can bring their cargoes on capesize bulk carriers and achieve economies of scale since larger quantities of cargo can be transported at a time. This will lead to cheaper freight costs,” says T.V. Shanbhag, adviser with Mumbai-based shipping company Mercator Lines Ltd.
Vizag Steel currently ships raw materials on handymax carriers (that can load up to 50,000 tonnes) because the depth at Vizag port cannot accommodate bigger vessels. The inner harbour of Vizag port where most of its cargo handling berths are located has a depth of 11m.
Vizag port plans to deepen the inner harbour to 14m to accommodate panamax carriers that can typically carry 73,000-75,000 tonnes of dry bulk commodities. Still, it would be nowhere near the new port in terms of depth.
Gangavaram port is being developed in three phases with a capacity to handle 100mt of cargo when fully operational. The 35mt capacity, phase one development comprises five berths, one each for handling coal and iron ore and three multi-purpose berths for handling other bulk and general cargo.
A consortium of 13 banks led by State Bank of India has lent Rs1,170 crore to Gangavaram Port Ltd for funding the phase one development.
D.V.S Raju, who was also founder-chairman of Hyderabad-based IT services firm VisualSoft Technologies Ltd, has roped in the Dubai-government owned port operator DP World to develop and operate the port for a 30-year period.
Fearing that the development of Gangavaram would harm the prospects of Vizag port, the Union shipping ministry had earlier proposed a joint venture between Vizag port and the private operator of Gangavaram port.
But this was rejected by the previous Andhra Pradesh government headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was a key constituent of the then ruling National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre. The NDA government also agreed to transfer about 1,400 acres of land belonging to the state-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd for developing the new port.
Vizag is the industrial nerve centre of Andhra Pradesh and is regarded as the gateway for trade with China and the Asean region
Reliance looking for specialist container terminal operator
Reliance looking for specialist container terminal operator
When fully operational, the Rewas port will have 70 berths with a capacity to handle 457mt of cargo
P. Manoj
Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd will hire a global container terminal operator for its planned 2.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teu) a year facility at the Rewas port in Maharashtra.
A teu is the standard size of a container and is a common measure of capacity in the container business.
“We don’t have expertise in running container terminals,” said K.V. Natarajan, president, Rewas Ports Ltd. “Hence, we plan to have a strategic alliance with a global specialist in running container terminals or a container shipping firm and have started a dialogue in that direction.” He declined to elaborate.
Rewas Ports, which is 65% owned by various group companies operating under Reliance Industries, is building an all-weather deep draught (depth) port just 10km south of the central-government owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s busiest container port.
Amma Lines Ltd holds a 24% stake in Rewas Ports, while the balance 11% equity is owned by Maharashtra Maritime Board, the maritime regulator that oversees the development of ports owned by the state government.
Rewas port will be built in three phases. The first phase development costing Rs5,114 crore will involve 10 cargo handling berths with a capacity to handle 55 million tonnes (mt) of cargo. The new port will start operations on a 50-year contract beginning October 2010.
Since it is a port owned by the state government, Rewas Ports will be free to fix its own tariffs without consulting a regulator. However, the tariffs for cargo handling services at the 12 Union government-owned ports are set by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports.
When fully operational by 2040, Rewas port will have 70 berths with a capacity to handle 457mt of cargo, which is almost equal to the total cargo handled at the 12 Union government ports in the country.
These 12 ports handled 464mt of cargo in the 12 months to March 2007, compared with a capacity of 508mt.
Natarajan said that Rewas Ports will float global tenders in September to award the dredging work at the port that is estimated to cost about Rs1,800 crore.
The port will have a depth of 14.5 metres to start with and this will be increased to 20 metres in a phased manner.
The dredging contract at Rewas will be the biggest of such work ever executed in the country, bigger than the dredging work for the Sethusamudram ship channel project. It involves dredging 120 million cubic metres of stone, mud, sand and silt from the seabed.
A consortium of banks led by ICICI Bank Ltd has agreed to lend about Rs3,400 crore for the phase one development of the port, Natarajan said.
According to the union shipping ministry, the container cargo traffic at Indian ports is expected to grow to 12.5 million teu by 2011-12. Of this, 93% or 11.7 million teu are expected to be handled by the 12 Union government-owned ports.
The balance would be handled at ports owned by the state governments and which are being developed with private investments such as Rewas, Mundra, Pipavav, Hazira, Gangavaram, Pondicherry, Vizhinjam, Vijaydurg and Dighi, among others
When fully operational, the Rewas port will have 70 berths with a capacity to handle 457mt of cargo
P. Manoj
Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd will hire a global container terminal operator for its planned 2.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teu) a year facility at the Rewas port in Maharashtra.
A teu is the standard size of a container and is a common measure of capacity in the container business.
“We don’t have expertise in running container terminals,” said K.V. Natarajan, president, Rewas Ports Ltd. “Hence, we plan to have a strategic alliance with a global specialist in running container terminals or a container shipping firm and have started a dialogue in that direction.” He declined to elaborate.
Rewas Ports, which is 65% owned by various group companies operating under Reliance Industries, is building an all-weather deep draught (depth) port just 10km south of the central-government owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s busiest container port.
Amma Lines Ltd holds a 24% stake in Rewas Ports, while the balance 11% equity is owned by Maharashtra Maritime Board, the maritime regulator that oversees the development of ports owned by the state government.
Rewas port will be built in three phases. The first phase development costing Rs5,114 crore will involve 10 cargo handling berths with a capacity to handle 55 million tonnes (mt) of cargo. The new port will start operations on a 50-year contract beginning October 2010.
Since it is a port owned by the state government, Rewas Ports will be free to fix its own tariffs without consulting a regulator. However, the tariffs for cargo handling services at the 12 Union government-owned ports are set by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports.
When fully operational by 2040, Rewas port will have 70 berths with a capacity to handle 457mt of cargo, which is almost equal to the total cargo handled at the 12 Union government ports in the country.
These 12 ports handled 464mt of cargo in the 12 months to March 2007, compared with a capacity of 508mt.
Natarajan said that Rewas Ports will float global tenders in September to award the dredging work at the port that is estimated to cost about Rs1,800 crore.
The port will have a depth of 14.5 metres to start with and this will be increased to 20 metres in a phased manner.
The dredging contract at Rewas will be the biggest of such work ever executed in the country, bigger than the dredging work for the Sethusamudram ship channel project. It involves dredging 120 million cubic metres of stone, mud, sand and silt from the seabed.
A consortium of banks led by ICICI Bank Ltd has agreed to lend about Rs3,400 crore for the phase one development of the port, Natarajan said.
According to the union shipping ministry, the container cargo traffic at Indian ports is expected to grow to 12.5 million teu by 2011-12. Of this, 93% or 11.7 million teu are expected to be handled by the 12 Union government-owned ports.
The balance would be handled at ports owned by the state governments and which are being developed with private investments such as Rewas, Mundra, Pipavav, Hazira, Gangavaram, Pondicherry, Vizhinjam, Vijaydurg and Dighi, among others
Friday, September 7, 2007
Vizhinjam terminal in three years: Minister
Vizhinjam terminal in three years: Minister
Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Work on the first phase of the Vizhinjam international container transhipment terminal will be completed in three years, Law Minister M. Vijayakumar has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Friday, Mr.Vijayakumar said construction of the terminal was estimated to cost Rs.5,348 crore. The first phase was expected to cost Rs.2,390 crore. As many as 23 companies, including six foreign companies, secured tender forms for the project. The tender would be finalised in December, he said.
Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Work on the first phase of the Vizhinjam international container transhipment terminal will be completed in three years, Law Minister M. Vijayakumar has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Friday, Mr.Vijayakumar said construction of the terminal was estimated to cost Rs.5,348 crore. The first phase was expected to cost Rs.2,390 crore. As many as 23 companies, including six foreign companies, secured tender forms for the project. The tender would be finalised in December, he said.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Vizhinjam global tender receives 21 bidders
Vizhinjam global tender receives 21 bidders
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 3:
Kerala Ports Minister M Vijayakumar today said as many as 21 tenders have been received from international companies for the proposed deep-sea container terminal at Vizhinjam, near here, for which the state government had floated a global tender.
Speaking at the inaugural function of dredging of the Vizhinjam harbour as part of the terminal's development works, the minister said six harbours among the 17 in the state would be developed in the first phase. ''The state's development lays in the development of ports,'' he noted.There was good response for the global tender and the evaluation of the bid would be completed by this month. Earlier, Mr Vijayakumar had said after security clearance in October, licence would be given to successful bidder in November and the construction would start in December 2008.
--- UNI
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 3:
Kerala Ports Minister M Vijayakumar today said as many as 21 tenders have been received from international companies for the proposed deep-sea container terminal at Vizhinjam, near here, for which the state government had floated a global tender.
Speaking at the inaugural function of dredging of the Vizhinjam harbour as part of the terminal's development works, the minister said six harbours among the 17 in the state would be developed in the first phase. ''The state's development lays in the development of ports,'' he noted.There was good response for the global tender and the evaluation of the bid would be completed by this month. Earlier, Mr Vijayakumar had said after security clearance in October, licence would be given to successful bidder in November and the construction would start in December 2008.
--- UNI
Dredging work at Vizhinjam fishing harbour begins
Dredging work at Vizhinjam fishing harbour begins
Special Correspondent
Silt and garbage have raised the sea bed by a metre
Special Correspondent
Silt and garbage have raised the sea bed by a metre
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Ports Department on Monday launched a short-term project to deepen the sea bed at the Vizhinjam fishing harbour, to provide safe berthing for cargo ships and tourist liners.
The basin inside the breakwaters is being dredged to its original depth of 5.5 metres. Ports officials said silt and accumulation of the waste dumped by fishing boats had raised the seabed in the harbour by one metre over a period of time. The basin would be dredged along a channel 100 m long and 50 m wide near the wharf for ships to berth safely.
A dredger, TSD Sindhuraj, belonging to the Kerala State Maritime Development Corporation has been pressed into service. It will remove 5,000 cubic metres of clay and sand from the seabed in an operation expected to last a week. The project is estimated to cost Rs.5 lakhs.
The trailer suction dredger is equipped with a tail-end nozzle and a hose to suck up the clay-sand mixture. The mixture is stored in a hopper tank of 200 cubic metre capacity. Once the tank is full, the vessel will head to the open sea to dump the mixture in deep waters.
Ports Officer Hari Achutha Warrier said that during the operation, 25 to 30 loads would be emptied in sea. Dredging would commence on Tuesday after removing fishing boats from the harbour area.
Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar inaugurated the dredging project at the wharf on Monday morning. Ports Secretary L. Radhakrishnan presided over the inaugural function. District Collector N. Ayyappan, managing director of the Maritime Development Corporation K.K. Rajendran, Vizhinjam gram panchayat president Asuntha Mohan, Matsyafed chairman Pulluvila Stanley, Ports director Captain Vijayan Pillai and Mr. Warrier were present on the occasion.
The Vizhinjam fishing harbour currently handles general cargo ships mostly exporting goods to Maldives. Tourist liners also make an occasional call here.
Mr. Warrier said the reduced draft inside the harbour had made it impossible for bigger ships to approach the wharf, except during high tide.
“Deepening the harbour will make it possible for these vessels to come in any time. Periodic dredging during the post- monsoon period may become necessary,” he added.
The basin inside the breakwaters is being dredged to its original depth of 5.5 metres. Ports officials said silt and accumulation of the waste dumped by fishing boats had raised the seabed in the harbour by one metre over a period of time. The basin would be dredged along a channel 100 m long and 50 m wide near the wharf for ships to berth safely.
A dredger, TSD Sindhuraj, belonging to the Kerala State Maritime Development Corporation has been pressed into service. It will remove 5,000 cubic metres of clay and sand from the seabed in an operation expected to last a week. The project is estimated to cost Rs.5 lakhs.
The trailer suction dredger is equipped with a tail-end nozzle and a hose to suck up the clay-sand mixture. The mixture is stored in a hopper tank of 200 cubic metre capacity. Once the tank is full, the vessel will head to the open sea to dump the mixture in deep waters.
Ports Officer Hari Achutha Warrier said that during the operation, 25 to 30 loads would be emptied in sea. Dredging would commence on Tuesday after removing fishing boats from the harbour area.
Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar inaugurated the dredging project at the wharf on Monday morning. Ports Secretary L. Radhakrishnan presided over the inaugural function. District Collector N. Ayyappan, managing director of the Maritime Development Corporation K.K. Rajendran, Vizhinjam gram panchayat president Asuntha Mohan, Matsyafed chairman Pulluvila Stanley, Ports director Captain Vijayan Pillai and Mr. Warrier were present on the occasion.
The Vizhinjam fishing harbour currently handles general cargo ships mostly exporting goods to Maldives. Tourist liners also make an occasional call here.
Mr. Warrier said the reduced draft inside the harbour had made it impossible for bigger ships to approach the wharf, except during high tide.
“Deepening the harbour will make it possible for these vessels to come in any time. Periodic dredging during the post- monsoon period may become necessary,” he added.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Article written-by-a-15-year-old-korean-boy-who-visited-nepal
Nepalese complain about the caste system and corrupt officers. They openly vent their anger against the government. But have they ever thought About Nepal’s real problems? I believe that they have not. I want to say that Nepal’s real problems are lack of patriotism among the people and lack of love for one another. This is the conclusion I have reached during my stay. This summer, I did voluntary work from July 5 to July 30 at FHI Ever Vision School, Matatirtha, Kathmandu.
Let me first tell you about my country, Korea. This might help you understand my point. Just after the Korean War, which claimed lives of more than 5 million Koreans, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Without natural resources, Korea had no choice but to desperately struggle for its survival by all means. Under this gloomy situation, Koreans envied other Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, and Nepal. Korean government officials were horribly corrupt. With the dual classes of Yang ban (nobles) and angnom (peasants), Korean society was sickening day by day. However, Koreans, having determination to become rich, overcame the unfair social structure and put the country onto the track of development. When the former president Park Jung Hee took over the government, there were few factories in Korea. Korea could not attract loans or expect foreign investments. Under these circumstances, President Park ‘exported’ miners and nurses to then West Germany . The salaries that they earned were used to building factories and promoting industrialization of Korea. In 1964, when President Park visited then West Germany, the miners and nurses asked the president when the Koreans would become rich. The president replied, crying with the miners and nurses, that someday the Koreans would become rich. Many of Korean scientists and engineers, who could just enjoy comfortable lives in the United States, returned to Korea with only one thing in their mind: the determination to make Korea the most powerful and prosperous country in the world. They did their best even though their salaries were much less than what they would have received in other countries.
The Koreans believed that they have the ability to change their desperate situation and that they must make the country better, not only for themselves but also for the future generations yet to come. My parents’ generation sacrificed themselves for their families and the country. They worked 14 hours a day, and risked their lives working under inhumane conditions. The mothers, who went to work in factories, fed their babies while operating machines in dangerous environments. They always tried to teach their children the true value of ‘hard work’. Finally, all of these hard works and sacrifices made the prosperous Korea that you see now.
Nepalese, have you ever cried for your country? I heard that many of Nepali youth do not love their Nepal. I also heard that they want to leave Nepal because they don’t like caste system, or because they want to escape the severe poverty. However, they should be the first ones to voluntarily work for Nepal’s development, not the first ones to complain and speak against their country. I have a dream that someday I would be able to free the souls from suffering from the underdeveloped countries, anachronistic customs and the desperate hunger. My belief has become stronger than ever after seeing the reality in Nepal. A child with a fatal disease who doesn’t have enough money to buy a pill; a child living in what seems like a pre-historic dwelling and not having the opportunity to receive education; and a student who cannot succeed, no matter how hard he studies, just because of the class he comes from. A society, in which wives not only take care of children but also work in the fields, while their husbands waste their time doing nothing; a society in which a five-year-old must labor in a brick factory to feed herself. Looking at the reality of Nepal, I was despaired, yet this sense of despair strengthened my belief. I already know that many of the Nepalese are devout Hindus. However, nothing happens if you just pray to hundreds of thousands of gods while doing nothing. It is the action that you and Nepal need for the better future. For Nepal and yourselves, you have to show your love to your neighbors and country just as you do to Gods. You know that your Gods will be pleased when you work for the development of your country and improvement of your lives. Therefore, please, love your neighbors and country. Teach your children to love their country. And love the working itself. Who do you think will cry for your Nepal?
Who do you think will be able to respect the spirit of Himalayas and to keep the lonely flag representing it? You are the ones responsible for leading this beautiful country to a much brighter future. This responsibility lies on you.
(The writer is a 15 year-old student of Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, South Korea).
Let me first tell you about my country, Korea. This might help you understand my point. Just after the Korean War, which claimed lives of more than 5 million Koreans, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Without natural resources, Korea had no choice but to desperately struggle for its survival by all means. Under this gloomy situation, Koreans envied other Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, and Nepal. Korean government officials were horribly corrupt. With the dual classes of Yang ban (nobles) and angnom (peasants), Korean society was sickening day by day. However, Koreans, having determination to become rich, overcame the unfair social structure and put the country onto the track of development. When the former president Park Jung Hee took over the government, there were few factories in Korea. Korea could not attract loans or expect foreign investments. Under these circumstances, President Park ‘exported’ miners and nurses to then West Germany . The salaries that they earned were used to building factories and promoting industrialization of Korea. In 1964, when President Park visited then West Germany, the miners and nurses asked the president when the Koreans would become rich. The president replied, crying with the miners and nurses, that someday the Koreans would become rich. Many of Korean scientists and engineers, who could just enjoy comfortable lives in the United States, returned to Korea with only one thing in their mind: the determination to make Korea the most powerful and prosperous country in the world. They did their best even though their salaries were much less than what they would have received in other countries.
The Koreans believed that they have the ability to change their desperate situation and that they must make the country better, not only for themselves but also for the future generations yet to come. My parents’ generation sacrificed themselves for their families and the country. They worked 14 hours a day, and risked their lives working under inhumane conditions. The mothers, who went to work in factories, fed their babies while operating machines in dangerous environments. They always tried to teach their children the true value of ‘hard work’. Finally, all of these hard works and sacrifices made the prosperous Korea that you see now.
Nepalese, have you ever cried for your country? I heard that many of Nepali youth do not love their Nepal. I also heard that they want to leave Nepal because they don’t like caste system, or because they want to escape the severe poverty. However, they should be the first ones to voluntarily work for Nepal’s development, not the first ones to complain and speak against their country. I have a dream that someday I would be able to free the souls from suffering from the underdeveloped countries, anachronistic customs and the desperate hunger. My belief has become stronger than ever after seeing the reality in Nepal. A child with a fatal disease who doesn’t have enough money to buy a pill; a child living in what seems like a pre-historic dwelling and not having the opportunity to receive education; and a student who cannot succeed, no matter how hard he studies, just because of the class he comes from. A society, in which wives not only take care of children but also work in the fields, while their husbands waste their time doing nothing; a society in which a five-year-old must labor in a brick factory to feed herself. Looking at the reality of Nepal, I was despaired, yet this sense of despair strengthened my belief. I already know that many of the Nepalese are devout Hindus. However, nothing happens if you just pray to hundreds of thousands of gods while doing nothing. It is the action that you and Nepal need for the better future. For Nepal and yourselves, you have to show your love to your neighbors and country just as you do to Gods. You know that your Gods will be pleased when you work for the development of your country and improvement of your lives. Therefore, please, love your neighbors and country. Teach your children to love their country. And love the working itself. Who do you think will cry for your Nepal?
Who do you think will be able to respect the spirit of Himalayas and to keep the lonely flag representing it? You are the ones responsible for leading this beautiful country to a much brighter future. This responsibility lies on you.
(The writer is a 15 year-old student of Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, South Korea).
Friday, August 10, 2007
Vizhinjam dreams of receiving the biggest ships
Vizhinjam dreams of receiving the biggest ships
Special Correspondent
Global tenders floated for international seaport project
VISL nodal agency for project execution
Project cost estimated at
$580 million
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed deep-sea container terminal at Vizhinjam, near here, for which the facilitating agency has now floated global tenders, will have facilities for receiving the biggest ships currently transporting goods across the continents, according to Ports Minister M. Vijayakumar.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), the company formed by the State Government as the nodal agency for the execution of this dream project of Kerala, floated global tenders for the project on Wednesday.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the port, at the completion of its first phase of development, would be able to receive ships of up to 8,000 TEU (Twenty Equivalent Units). The project is conceived in such a way that, in the subsequent phase of its development, ships of even 12,000 TEU could easily berth at the port. The biggest ships currently on the international sea routes do not exceed 9,500 TEU in capacity, he said.
The project cost is estimated at the level of $580 million (about Rs.2,390 crore). The Government had appointed a company called IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation as the strategic adviser for the project. The technical consultants for the project are L&T-RAMBOLL Consulting Engineers Limited, ROGGE Marine Consulting GMBH of Germany, RAMBOLL of Denmark and L&T Capital Company Limited.
Vizhinjam is located 8 km south of the State capital Thiruvananthapuram, on the west coast of the country. The biggest advantage of the location is its proximity to international shipping routes and the East-West shipping axis. The seabed here has a 20-metre contour depth within one nautical mile of the coast. The sea here has little littoral drift close to the coast and, therefore, requires hardly any maintenance dredging, Mr. Vijayakumar said.
The qualification criteria stipulated in the ‘request for proposal’ documents are available at the office of VISL and on the websites www.vizport.org and www.ilfsindia.com.
Private developers have been advised to first assess their eligibility on the basis of the stipulations given in the ‘qualification criteria’ before obtaining the ‘request for proposal’ documents.
Special Correspondent
Global tenders floated for international seaport project
VISL nodal agency for project execution
Project cost estimated at
$580 million
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed deep-sea container terminal at Vizhinjam, near here, for which the facilitating agency has now floated global tenders, will have facilities for receiving the biggest ships currently transporting goods across the continents, according to Ports Minister M. Vijayakumar.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), the company formed by the State Government as the nodal agency for the execution of this dream project of Kerala, floated global tenders for the project on Wednesday.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the port, at the completion of its first phase of development, would be able to receive ships of up to 8,000 TEU (Twenty Equivalent Units). The project is conceived in such a way that, in the subsequent phase of its development, ships of even 12,000 TEU could easily berth at the port. The biggest ships currently on the international sea routes do not exceed 9,500 TEU in capacity, he said.
The project cost is estimated at the level of $580 million (about Rs.2,390 crore). The Government had appointed a company called IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation as the strategic adviser for the project. The technical consultants for the project are L&T-RAMBOLL Consulting Engineers Limited, ROGGE Marine Consulting GMBH of Germany, RAMBOLL of Denmark and L&T Capital Company Limited.
Vizhinjam is located 8 km south of the State capital Thiruvananthapuram, on the west coast of the country. The biggest advantage of the location is its proximity to international shipping routes and the East-West shipping axis. The seabed here has a 20-metre contour depth within one nautical mile of the coast. The sea here has little littoral drift close to the coast and, therefore, requires hardly any maintenance dredging, Mr. Vijayakumar said.
The qualification criteria stipulated in the ‘request for proposal’ documents are available at the office of VISL and on the websites www.vizport.org and www.ilfsindia.com.
Private developers have been advised to first assess their eligibility on the basis of the stipulations given in the ‘qualification criteria’ before obtaining the ‘request for proposal’ documents.
Fresh tender floated to build India’s deepest container port
Vizhinjam International has invited bids from local and overseas companies to develop the project in phases
Mumbai: The Kerala government plans to build an international deepwater seaport and container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam port at a cost of more than Rs5,000 crore to meet the rising needs of trade in the world’s second fastest growing economy.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, a company fully owned by the Kerala government, on Wednesday invited bids from local and overseas firms to develop the project in phases. The first phase costing Rs2,390 crore involves creating capacity to handle 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teus) a year. The second phase costing over Rs2,610 crore will expand the total container handling capacity to 5.3 million teus a year. A teu is the standard size of a container and is a common measure of capacity in the container business.
Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd and Hindustan Infrastructure Projects and Engineering Pvt. Ltd, a firm promoted by former BPL Mobile owner Rajeev Chandrasekhar, have confirmed that they will bid for the
International appeal: File picture of Vizhinjam port. The greenfield project is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region, and will compete with the terminal being developed at Kochi by DP Worldproject.
When operational, Vizhinjam will compete with the international container transhipment terminal being developed at Vallarpadam in Kochi port by the Dubai government-owned container port operator DP World. A transhipment port or terminal typically has a depth of more than 16m where big container ships can call to load cargo arriving from smaller ports and ship them directly to destinations or to unload cargo arriving from origin ports which are then loaded onto smaller feeder ships and transported to final destinations. Because of the draft (or depth) restrictions at Indian ports, India’s container cargo is transhipped at ports such as Colombo, Singapore and Dubai. This entails extra time and costs for moving the cargo, two key factors that influence India’s competitiveness in global trade. And ports at Colombo, Singapore and Dubai are beneficiaries.
For instance, Colombo port currently handles 3.3 million teus a year and about 60% of this originates at or is destined for Indian ports.
“So, containers that should ideally have been transhipped at Indian ports are now getting transhipped at Colombo port,” said Kshitiz Bhasker, senior manager (ports) at Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, a unit of Mumbai-based construction firm Gammon India Ltd.
Companies have until 31 October to submit their proposals for developing the greenfield project that is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region. The firm seeking the lowest debt support from the Kerala government will get the 30-year contract, said an official at Vizhinjam International Seaport.
This is the second attempt by the Kerala government to develop the port located 8km south of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on India’s west coast.
A consortium comprising two Chinese firms (Kaidi Electric Power Company and China Harbour Engg. Co.) and Zoom Developers had emerged successful bidders in the global tender that was floated in 2005. But, the tender was scrapped on issues related to national security because of the involvement of the Chinese firms, one of which was also operating a port in Pakistan.
“We will definitely be interested in bidding for the project in the fresh round of tendering,” said Arun Altekar, assistant vice-president, Zoom Developers.
This time around, Zoom Developers will be bidding for the project with new partners. One of them is most likely to be Portia Management Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peel Ports Ltd, the second largest port operator in the UK. Gammon Infrastructure, the only other bidder in the earlier round, is looking at the project very seriously, said Bhasker.
“It is the best natural location in India with very good draft that requires no maintenance dredging at all and is close to the international shipping route. This port can easily become the deepest container port in India,” added Bhasker.
Currently, Vizhinjam port has a depth of 16m that will be deepened to 18.7m to allow big container ships of 12,000 teu capacity to call for loading and unloading cargo.
The added attractiveness is that because it is owned by the state government, Vizhinjam port will be outside the ambit of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator that sets prices for cargo handling at the 12 Central government-owned major ports in the country. As a result, the private firm winning the Vizhinjam project will be free to fix its own tariffs.
Mumbai: The Kerala government plans to build an international deepwater seaport and container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam port at a cost of more than Rs5,000 crore to meet the rising needs of trade in the world’s second fastest growing economy.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, a company fully owned by the Kerala government, on Wednesday invited bids from local and overseas firms to develop the project in phases. The first phase costing Rs2,390 crore involves creating capacity to handle 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teus) a year. The second phase costing over Rs2,610 crore will expand the total container handling capacity to 5.3 million teus a year. A teu is the standard size of a container and is a common measure of capacity in the container business.
Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd and Hindustan Infrastructure Projects and Engineering Pvt. Ltd, a firm promoted by former BPL Mobile owner Rajeev Chandrasekhar, have confirmed that they will bid for the
International appeal: File picture of Vizhinjam port. The greenfield project is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region, and will compete with the terminal being developed at Kochi by DP Worldproject.
When operational, Vizhinjam will compete with the international container transhipment terminal being developed at Vallarpadam in Kochi port by the Dubai government-owned container port operator DP World. A transhipment port or terminal typically has a depth of more than 16m where big container ships can call to load cargo arriving from smaller ports and ship them directly to destinations or to unload cargo arriving from origin ports which are then loaded onto smaller feeder ships and transported to final destinations. Because of the draft (or depth) restrictions at Indian ports, India’s container cargo is transhipped at ports such as Colombo, Singapore and Dubai. This entails extra time and costs for moving the cargo, two key factors that influence India’s competitiveness in global trade. And ports at Colombo, Singapore and Dubai are beneficiaries.
For instance, Colombo port currently handles 3.3 million teus a year and about 60% of this originates at or is destined for Indian ports.
“So, containers that should ideally have been transhipped at Indian ports are now getting transhipped at Colombo port,” said Kshitiz Bhasker, senior manager (ports) at Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, a unit of Mumbai-based construction firm Gammon India Ltd.
Companies have until 31 October to submit their proposals for developing the greenfield project that is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region. The firm seeking the lowest debt support from the Kerala government will get the 30-year contract, said an official at Vizhinjam International Seaport.
This is the second attempt by the Kerala government to develop the port located 8km south of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on India’s west coast.
A consortium comprising two Chinese firms (Kaidi Electric Power Company and China Harbour Engg. Co.) and Zoom Developers had emerged successful bidders in the global tender that was floated in 2005. But, the tender was scrapped on issues related to national security because of the involvement of the Chinese firms, one of which was also operating a port in Pakistan.
“We will definitely be interested in bidding for the project in the fresh round of tendering,” said Arun Altekar, assistant vice-president, Zoom Developers.
This time around, Zoom Developers will be bidding for the project with new partners. One of them is most likely to be Portia Management Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peel Ports Ltd, the second largest port operator in the UK. Gammon Infrastructure, the only other bidder in the earlier round, is looking at the project very seriously, said Bhasker.
“It is the best natural location in India with very good draft that requires no maintenance dredging at all and is close to the international shipping route. This port can easily become the deepest container port in India,” added Bhasker.
Currently, Vizhinjam port has a depth of 16m that will be deepened to 18.7m to allow big container ships of 12,000 teu capacity to call for loading and unloading cargo.
The added attractiveness is that because it is owned by the state government, Vizhinjam port will be outside the ambit of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator that sets prices for cargo handling at the 12 Central government-owned major ports in the country. As a result, the private firm winning the Vizhinjam project will be free to fix its own tariffs.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Babu Rajeev is Vizhinjam Sea Port MD
Thiruvananthapuram, July 6: The Kerala Government today appointed Mr C Babu Rajeev as the Managing Director of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd.
Briefing newspersons here after a meeting of the state Cabinet, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said the senior official earlier held the posts of chairman of the Kochi Port Trust and Managing Director of the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL).
The Kerala government was according utmost priority to the implementation of the project which has a huge potential to boost the economy of the state.The project structured in public-private partnership (PPP) format is envisaged in three phases. The estimated cost of the Phase I development is Rs. 1,850 crore and that for the whole project Rs 4,360 crore.
The company was set up mainly to provide external support infrastructure like road- rail connectivity, water and power supply to the port, facilitating the establishment of port-based special economic zone and free trade warehousing zones apart from overseeing the implementation of the port project by the private developer.
Thiruvananthapuram, July 6: The Kerala Government today appointed Mr C Babu Rajeev as the Managing Director of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd.
Briefing newspersons here after a meeting of the state Cabinet, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said the senior official earlier held the posts of chairman of the Kochi Port Trust and Managing Director of the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL).
The Kerala government was according utmost priority to the implementation of the project which has a huge potential to boost the economy of the state.The project structured in public-private partnership (PPP) format is envisaged in three phases. The estimated cost of the Phase I development is Rs. 1,850 crore and that for the whole project Rs 4,360 crore.
The company was set up mainly to provide external support infrastructure like road- rail connectivity, water and power supply to the port, facilitating the establishment of port-based special economic zone and free trade warehousing zones apart from overseeing the implementation of the port project by the private developer.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Tender process for Vizhinjam port to be completed soon
Tender process for Vizhinjam port to be completed soon
Staff Reporter
First phase of the project to be completed within three years
Security clearance hinders projectGovernment to take up projects under public-private partnership
Thiruvananthapuram: The tender process for the Vizhinjam international container transhipment terminal will be completed this year and the first phase of the project within three years, Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Friday, the Minister said 43 companies, including 12 foreign firms, had participated in the investors meet held in the capital city in April.
A company, sponsored by the Russian Government, had evinced interest in the project, he said.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the security clearance was the main hurdle in the implementation of the project.
The State Government had been advised to consider national interest and internal security while evaluating the tenders.
Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES) had been entrusted with the feasibility study on the rail and road connectivity to the port. The Rs.45 lakh-study would be completed within four months.
Agreement
An agreement would soon be signed with the Kerala Water Authority for making available water from Vellayani Lake to the proposed port at a cost of Rs.3.89 crore. Talks were on with the Kerala State Electricity Board for ensuring power supply to the port.
The Minister said Vizhinjam was among the six ports in the State that would be developed in the first phase. The others are at Thangaserri, Alappuzha, Ponnani, Beypore, Azheekal.
He said Azheekal had been included in the National Maritime Programme of the Union Government. Land measuring 1.8 hectares would be acquired for the project estimated to cost Rs.1,387 crore.
The work on the port at Thangaserri was nearing completion and would be commissioned soon.
A marina and cargo port had been proposed for Alappuzha taking into account its tourism potential.
Huge investment would be needed for the development of the ports and the Government planned to take up the projects under public-private partnership.Maritime academies
Mr. Vijayakumar said the Government would set up maritime academies at Majeshwaram and Valiathura in Thiruvananthapuram.
Although land had been identified at Manjeshwaram, the progress of the project at Valiathura had hit a bottleneck. Replying to a question, the Minister said priority would be accorded to the rail-road connectivity for the proposed Vallarpadam project.
Staff Reporter
First phase of the project to be completed within three years
Security clearance hinders projectGovernment to take up projects under public-private partnership
Thiruvananthapuram: The tender process for the Vizhinjam international container transhipment terminal will be completed this year and the first phase of the project within three years, Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Friday, the Minister said 43 companies, including 12 foreign firms, had participated in the investors meet held in the capital city in April.
A company, sponsored by the Russian Government, had evinced interest in the project, he said.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the security clearance was the main hurdle in the implementation of the project.
The State Government had been advised to consider national interest and internal security while evaluating the tenders.
Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES) had been entrusted with the feasibility study on the rail and road connectivity to the port. The Rs.45 lakh-study would be completed within four months.
Agreement
An agreement would soon be signed with the Kerala Water Authority for making available water from Vellayani Lake to the proposed port at a cost of Rs.3.89 crore. Talks were on with the Kerala State Electricity Board for ensuring power supply to the port.
The Minister said Vizhinjam was among the six ports in the State that would be developed in the first phase. The others are at Thangaserri, Alappuzha, Ponnani, Beypore, Azheekal.
He said Azheekal had been included in the National Maritime Programme of the Union Government. Land measuring 1.8 hectares would be acquired for the project estimated to cost Rs.1,387 crore.
The work on the port at Thangaserri was nearing completion and would be commissioned soon.
A marina and cargo port had been proposed for Alappuzha taking into account its tourism potential.
Huge investment would be needed for the development of the ports and the Government planned to take up the projects under public-private partnership.Maritime academies
Mr. Vijayakumar said the Government would set up maritime academies at Majeshwaram and Valiathura in Thiruvananthapuram.
Although land had been identified at Manjeshwaram, the progress of the project at Valiathura had hit a bottleneck. Replying to a question, the Minister said priority would be accorded to the rail-road connectivity for the proposed Vallarpadam project.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Disturbing thoughts
"This is the last chance for Vizhinjam.
If no credible agency comes forward to bid for the project that will sound the death bell for this project.
This was precisely the reason why I thought I should give practical and sensible advice to the Kerala Govt how they should make this project attractive to the investors. The best way is to offer a 50 year period so that more investors will compete for the project.
If the Kerala Govt considers 50 years being a very long period how could Maharashtra Govt agree for 50 years? Why should Pondicherry Govt agree for 30 years extendable for another 20 years?
Vizhinjam is expected to attract container traffic emanating from other ports and already there is keen competition within the major ports for container traffic. As the terminal is expected to survive basically on transhipment cargo the investor will be facing an uncertain future.
A longer concession period will help the investor to weather the storm in the initial stages and turn the project profitable in the long run.
What would the Kerala Govt do if the Tamil Nadu govt advertises for Coalachal and offer a longer concession period of 50 years to make their transhipment project more attractive?.
I strongly believe that the TN Govt would exactly do the same. If that happens the Govt of kerala will look very vulnerable. By the time it will be too late to correct the course and the State will miss its last bus!"
Letter from Dr.Jose Paul
If no credible agency comes forward to bid for the project that will sound the death bell for this project.
This was precisely the reason why I thought I should give practical and sensible advice to the Kerala Govt how they should make this project attractive to the investors. The best way is to offer a 50 year period so that more investors will compete for the project.
If the Kerala Govt considers 50 years being a very long period how could Maharashtra Govt agree for 50 years? Why should Pondicherry Govt agree for 30 years extendable for another 20 years?
Vizhinjam is expected to attract container traffic emanating from other ports and already there is keen competition within the major ports for container traffic. As the terminal is expected to survive basically on transhipment cargo the investor will be facing an uncertain future.
A longer concession period will help the investor to weather the storm in the initial stages and turn the project profitable in the long run.
What would the Kerala Govt do if the Tamil Nadu govt advertises for Coalachal and offer a longer concession period of 50 years to make their transhipment project more attractive?.
I strongly believe that the TN Govt would exactly do the same. If that happens the Govt of kerala will look very vulnerable. By the time it will be too late to correct the course and the State will miss its last bus!"
Letter from Dr.Jose Paul
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Vizhinjam Container Terminal has much more to cross
Wednesday June 27 2007 09:05 IST
T’PURAM: The proposed Vizhinjam International Container Terminal will not have a ‘clone’ within 150 km on either side of it on the Kerala coastline, the State Government has decided.
The government has also decided to bear the cost for developing external infrastructure for the project such as railway and road, a responsibility which it had earlier vested with the private partner.In fact, the government reinstated two conditions on Tuesday which it had done away with while announcing that it was going in for global tenders for the project a second time.As in the last bid, the State Government will also bear the contingent liability capped at Rs 67.50 crore, if changes occur in the basic design, subsequent to drilling and collection of data by the successful bidder.
And, the company that successfully bids and operates the port for 30 years, the original concession period, will also have the First Right of Refusal to match the winning bid if the government decided to bid out the port operation after the concession period expires.These are the changes that the government approved on Tuesday in the Request for Proposal (RFP) for global tender to invite the private partner for the multi-crore project.
Initially, a State Government grant was proposed to meet the expenses for developing the external infrastructure for the project, amounting to Rs 80 crore. This was modified later. The public-private partnership that emerges after a successful bid would have to meet the cost, the government had decided.This was one point to which the companies, taking part in an investors’ meet for the project on April 17, objected.
The decision to ban private developers from constructing a similar container transshipment terminal within 150 km in the state also arose from a suggestion from companies at the investors’ meet.
But, not allowing a similar port nearby is not such a big issue. What with the Vallarpadom Container Transshipment Terminal coming up in Kochi, there will be little scope for another in-between, anyway. Besides, it applies only to the region north of Vizhinjam, because in the south, the Tamil Nadu border is close by, and the condition does not apply beyond Kerala borders.
As many as 43 companies, big and small, including giants such as the Russian Rosoboron had taken part in the investor meet, the first one by the State Government for a single project, in April.The State Government had decided on a second round of global bid after the Centre denied clearance to a Chinese-led consortium that had originally grabbed the project.
T’PURAM: The proposed Vizhinjam International Container Terminal will not have a ‘clone’ within 150 km on either side of it on the Kerala coastline, the State Government has decided.
The government has also decided to bear the cost for developing external infrastructure for the project such as railway and road, a responsibility which it had earlier vested with the private partner.In fact, the government reinstated two conditions on Tuesday which it had done away with while announcing that it was going in for global tenders for the project a second time.As in the last bid, the State Government will also bear the contingent liability capped at Rs 67.50 crore, if changes occur in the basic design, subsequent to drilling and collection of data by the successful bidder.
And, the company that successfully bids and operates the port for 30 years, the original concession period, will also have the First Right of Refusal to match the winning bid if the government decided to bid out the port operation after the concession period expires.These are the changes that the government approved on Tuesday in the Request for Proposal (RFP) for global tender to invite the private partner for the multi-crore project.
Initially, a State Government grant was proposed to meet the expenses for developing the external infrastructure for the project, amounting to Rs 80 crore. This was modified later. The public-private partnership that emerges after a successful bid would have to meet the cost, the government had decided.This was one point to which the companies, taking part in an investors’ meet for the project on April 17, objected.
The decision to ban private developers from constructing a similar container transshipment terminal within 150 km in the state also arose from a suggestion from companies at the investors’ meet.
But, not allowing a similar port nearby is not such a big issue. What with the Vallarpadom Container Transshipment Terminal coming up in Kochi, there will be little scope for another in-between, anyway. Besides, it applies only to the region north of Vizhinjam, because in the south, the Tamil Nadu border is close by, and the condition does not apply beyond Kerala borders.
As many as 43 companies, big and small, including giants such as the Russian Rosoboron had taken part in the investor meet, the first one by the State Government for a single project, in April.The State Government had decided on a second round of global bid after the Centre denied clearance to a Chinese-led consortium that had originally grabbed the project.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
'Expedite Vizhinjam project’
'Expedite Vizhinjam project’
Special Correspondent
Janapaksham accuses Finance Department officials of bid to sabotage project
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Janapaksham people’s movement for the Vizhinjam container terminal has accused a section of officials in the Finance Department of attempting to sabotage the project.
A meeting of Janapaksham leaders here on Saturday alleged that the officials had failed to honour the timeframe for the project announced by the Chief Minister at the Investors’ Meet held on April 17. The meeting alleged that the Finance Department had blocked the sanction of Rs.80 crore as consultancy fee for the preparation of the international tender form and Rs.15 crore for revising the project report. It said the process of preparing a fresh estimate and tender would set the project back by at least two months.
Janapaksham alleged that the move to exclude the Ports Secretary from the Finance Committee of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) was part of a conspiracy to undermine the project.
It urged the Government to identify and punish the officials responsible for the lapses. It also called upon the Government to begin the construction works for the project by December 2007.
Presiding over the meeting, Janapaksham leader Appukuttan Pillai warned that the movement would launch an agitation if the Government failed to take timely action to expedite the project.
K.S. Manoj, Swaminathan, K.C.S. Nair, Ramakrishna Pillai and Wilfred Kulas were present.
Special Correspondent
Janapaksham accuses Finance Department officials of bid to sabotage project
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Janapaksham people’s movement for the Vizhinjam container terminal has accused a section of officials in the Finance Department of attempting to sabotage the project.
A meeting of Janapaksham leaders here on Saturday alleged that the officials had failed to honour the timeframe for the project announced by the Chief Minister at the Investors’ Meet held on April 17. The meeting alleged that the Finance Department had blocked the sanction of Rs.80 crore as consultancy fee for the preparation of the international tender form and Rs.15 crore for revising the project report. It said the process of preparing a fresh estimate and tender would set the project back by at least two months.
Janapaksham alleged that the move to exclude the Ports Secretary from the Finance Committee of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) was part of a conspiracy to undermine the project.
It urged the Government to identify and punish the officials responsible for the lapses. It also called upon the Government to begin the construction works for the project by December 2007.
Presiding over the meeting, Janapaksham leader Appukuttan Pillai warned that the movement would launch an agitation if the Government failed to take timely action to expedite the project.
K.S. Manoj, Swaminathan, K.C.S. Nair, Ramakrishna Pillai and Wilfred Kulas were present.
Kerala throws Swiss formula at Vizhinjam deal
Source:financial express
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left Democratic Front government in Kerala has taken a leaf out of Switzerland’s football manuals to sweeten the Rs 4,360-crore Vizhinjam Deepsea Port project.
Besides adopting the Swiss Challenge approach in project-financing, the VS Achuthanandan government is toying with the idea of expanding the port plans with two special economic zones—one port-based SEZ and another industry SEZ.'
The Kerala cabinet, which cleared the Vizhinjam project plan last week, had insisted on limiting the BoT partner’s tenure to 30 years. Most investors at the pre-bid meet had sought at least 40 years. But the chief minister was unrelenting.However, the chief minister doesn’t seem to mind the ‘Swiss Challenge’ clause. In the Swiss Challenge method (originally, a football term), the government gives the challenger a chance to make better offers than the first contestant, then allows the original contestant to countermatch. With the Kerala cabinet tailoring this clause, the Vizhinjam BoT partner has an advantage. He is empowered to match the best bidder and reclaim the project, if the state government decides to go for bidding again.
The SEZsbonanza for Vizhinjam, however, is yet to be decided. While the 100-acre port-based SEZ would fulfil the new port’s warehousing needs, getting a socio-political consesus for the 250-acre industrial SEZ near Vizhjinham port will be a difficult task.After initial cash-flow problems, the port project picked up some momentum last week. L&T Ramboll and IL&FS are working on it simultaneously.
‘‘We expect RFQ (request for qualification) papers to be picked up by June-end,’’ says L Radhakrishnan, CEO, Vizhinjam Deepsea ICT. At the pre-bid meet, the state had promised to get it going by May 2007.This is Kerala’s second go at Vizhinjham. The port is eyeing at least 50% of the 50,000 mother-ships that now traffic the Suez Canal route. It was on the issue of security clearance to the Chinese partner that the project's bidding schedule tripped the first time.
At the renewed pre-bid meet in April, as many as 43 firms, including 12 overseas infrastructure giants, held talks with chief minister Achuthanandan.When it is not money, it is time that's unsettling Vizhinjam plans. Even the slightest delay may impact the iInternal rate of returns. As it is, the cost is expected to have escalated by 25% to about Rs 5,500 crore.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left Democratic Front government in Kerala has taken a leaf out of Switzerland’s football manuals to sweeten the Rs 4,360-crore Vizhinjam Deepsea Port project.
Besides adopting the Swiss Challenge approach in project-financing, the VS Achuthanandan government is toying with the idea of expanding the port plans with two special economic zones—one port-based SEZ and another industry SEZ.'
The Kerala cabinet, which cleared the Vizhinjam project plan last week, had insisted on limiting the BoT partner’s tenure to 30 years. Most investors at the pre-bid meet had sought at least 40 years. But the chief minister was unrelenting.However, the chief minister doesn’t seem to mind the ‘Swiss Challenge’ clause. In the Swiss Challenge method (originally, a football term), the government gives the challenger a chance to make better offers than the first contestant, then allows the original contestant to countermatch. With the Kerala cabinet tailoring this clause, the Vizhinjam BoT partner has an advantage. He is empowered to match the best bidder and reclaim the project, if the state government decides to go for bidding again.
The SEZsbonanza for Vizhinjam, however, is yet to be decided. While the 100-acre port-based SEZ would fulfil the new port’s warehousing needs, getting a socio-political consesus for the 250-acre industrial SEZ near Vizhjinham port will be a difficult task.After initial cash-flow problems, the port project picked up some momentum last week. L&T Ramboll and IL&FS are working on it simultaneously.
‘‘We expect RFQ (request for qualification) papers to be picked up by June-end,’’ says L Radhakrishnan, CEO, Vizhinjam Deepsea ICT. At the pre-bid meet, the state had promised to get it going by May 2007.This is Kerala’s second go at Vizhinjham. The port is eyeing at least 50% of the 50,000 mother-ships that now traffic the Suez Canal route. It was on the issue of security clearance to the Chinese partner that the project's bidding schedule tripped the first time.
At the renewed pre-bid meet in April, as many as 43 firms, including 12 overseas infrastructure giants, held talks with chief minister Achuthanandan.When it is not money, it is time that's unsettling Vizhinjam plans. Even the slightest delay may impact the iInternal rate of returns. As it is, the cost is expected to have escalated by 25% to about Rs 5,500 crore.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
China moves into India's back yard
China moves into India's back yard
By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE -
China is all set to drop anchor at India's southern doorstep. An agreement has been finalized between Sri Lanka and China under which the latter will participate in the development of a port project at Hambantota on the island's south coast. An agreement on the Hambantota project was among eight that were signed during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's recent visit to China. Even as the Sri Lankans were finalizing the deal with the Chinese, they clinched an agreement with the Americans.
In Colombo, officials reached agreement on an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with the US. The agreements come at a time when India is already watching with concern the growing Pakistani influence in Sri Lanka. The Hambantota Development Zone, which the Chinese will help build, will include a container port, a bunkering system, an oil refinery, an airport and other facilities. It is expected to cost about US$1 billion and the Chinese are said to be financing more than 85% of the project. Construction on the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in July and is due to be completed in three years. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in the next 15 years. Sino-Sri Lankan cooperation on the port project is expected to propel Hambantota, 240 kilometers south of the Lankan capital, Colombo, into a major transshipment hub. Hambantota's infrastructure will help service hundreds of ships that ply the waters to the south of Sri Lanka.
China's role in the Hambantota project has stirred concern in some quarters in India. Some analysts here have argued that India has lost out to the Chinese. They say China won the project thanks to Indian lethargy and shortsightedness. According to this view, while India has been dragging its feet on this and other issues, the Chinese quickly moved in to clinch the deal.
In the process, it has made inroads into Sri Lanka - a country that India regards as within its sphere of influence. However, there are others who have played down the implications of the Sino-Lankan cooperation at Hambantota. They dismiss allegations that India lost the port project to the Chinese and maintain that India was not interested in the Hambantota oil-tank farm and bunkering project in the first place, as it already has a sizable presence in Trincomalee on Sri Lanka's northeast coast.
"India feels that it is unnecessary to bid for it [Hambantota] given the fact that it is already refurbishing the World War II-vintage oil-tank farm at Trincomalee with 99 giant tanks. Out of these, only 35 can be put to use in the near future," a report in the Hindustan Times said in 2005. "There isn't enough business in Sri Lanka to make expansion worthwhile even in Trincomalee. India also does not consider the Hambantota project to be of a great strategic value, either. For India, a presence in Trincomalee makes much more strategic sense." An official in Delhi told Asia Times Online that while the Hambantota project gives the Chinese a foothold in Sri Lanka, this cannot be interpreted as a decline in India's role on the island. Geographic proximity, ethnic links and close ties between India and Sri Lanka cannot be eroded by a few projects and agreements with other countries, he said.
But the Chinese role in the Hambantota project is not just about influence in Sri Lanka. It is about China's presence close to Indian shores, which has implications for India's security. Besides, with Hambantota, Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean has been further consolidated. The Hambantota port project is the latest in a series of steps that China has taken in recent years to consolidate its access to the Indian Ocean and to secure sea lanes through which its energy supplies are transported.
It has adopted what analysts describe as a "string of pearls" strategy, building strategic relationships with countries along sea lanes from the Middle East to the South China Sea. One such "pearl" is Gwadar, Pakistan. Since late 2001, China has been engaged in constructing and developing a deepsea port and a special economic zone at Gwadar, in Balochistan province. China's interest in Gwadar is motivated by the latter's strategic location.
Gwadar is just 72km from the Iranian border and 400km east of the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit of global oil supplies. China's massive involvement in the Gwadar project - it has provided most of its funding and technical expertise - has provided Beijing with a "listening post" from where it can "monitor US naval activity in the Persian Gulf, Indian activity in the Arabian Sea, and future US-Indian maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean", Zia
Haider, an analyst at the Washington-based Stimson Center, has noted. Other "pearls" that China has been developing are naval facilities in Bangladesh, where it is developing a container-port facility at Chittagong; in Myanmar, where it is building radar, refit and refuel facilities at bases in Sittwe, Coco, Hianggyi, Khaukphyu, Mergui and Zadetkyi Kyun; and in Thailand and Cambodia. At this juncture the Hambantota project does not seem to be in the same league as Gwadar.
For one, it is not clear whether theSri Lankans want China to develop Hambantota on the lines of the Pakistani port. Besides, Hambantota does not sit at the mouth of the strategic Persian Gulf. Neither is the port as vital to China's energy security or trade and economic development as are other "pearls" such as Gwadar and Sittwe. But the significance of Hambantota to China lies in its proximity to India's south coast and on the fact that it provides Beijing with presence midway in the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean is a critical waterway for global trade and commerce. Half the world's containerized freight, a third of its bulk cargo and two-thirds of its oil shipments travel through the Indian Ocean. It provides major sea routes connecting Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia with Europe and the Americas and is home to several critical chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca. This makes the Indian Ocean important to the Chinese, the Americans, the Indians, the Japanese and scores of other countries, and hence the calculated moves of several powers to consolidate their presence in Indian Ocean littorals. This is the prime factor motivating the Americans to go for the ACSA with the Sri Lankans. The agreement provides a framework for increased interoperability to transfer and exchange logistics supplies, and support and refueling services during peacekeeping missions, humanitarian operations, and joint exercises.
In essence, it will give the Americans a base at India's doorstep. While the US has described this agreement as "a barter deal on goods and services" and as "a very routine and fairly moderate" agreement, others are warning that it has "major ramifications for the region, particularly India". "For all the sophistry and spin by the Americans, the ACSA is a military deal and, on the face of it, is loaded in Washington's favor," wrote Muralidhar Reddy, The Hindu's Colombo-based correspondent.
"For the US, it is as good as acquiring a base in the Indian Ocean, and at little or no cost. "Just a few years ago, such an agreement would have been inconceivable given the sensitivities of India in view of the geographical proximity of Sri Lanka. For example, the grant of permission by Colombo to Voice of America to establish its transmitter on the island and the leasing of oil tanks in Trincomalee port to pro-American firms were major bones of contention between India and Sri Lanka for decades," Reddy wrote.
But today New Delhi is silent. This is because of "the changed geopolitical environment in the post-Cold War era" and the changed India-US relationship. "The provisions of the ACSA cannot be described as being detrimental to New Delhi's interests in the current phase of its relations with Washington," wrote Reddy, adding: "However, in a possible new context, India has every reason to be concerned about the pact."
During the Cold War, India bitterly opposed the US presence in Diego Garcia, 1,600km to the south of India's coast. But today, with India-US relations blossoming, Delhi appears to have given its blessings to a US "base" in a country that is a few dozen kilometers from its coastline. Today it is only China lurking in waters near its coast that worries India. But both deals that Sri Lanka finalized with the Chinese and the Americans last week make India's southern neighborhood more crowded with extra-regional powers. This has implications for India's security and its interests and ambitions in the Indian Ocean.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE -
China is all set to drop anchor at India's southern doorstep. An agreement has been finalized between Sri Lanka and China under which the latter will participate in the development of a port project at Hambantota on the island's south coast. An agreement on the Hambantota project was among eight that were signed during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's recent visit to China. Even as the Sri Lankans were finalizing the deal with the Chinese, they clinched an agreement with the Americans.
In Colombo, officials reached agreement on an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with the US. The agreements come at a time when India is already watching with concern the growing Pakistani influence in Sri Lanka. The Hambantota Development Zone, which the Chinese will help build, will include a container port, a bunkering system, an oil refinery, an airport and other facilities. It is expected to cost about US$1 billion and the Chinese are said to be financing more than 85% of the project. Construction on the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in July and is due to be completed in three years. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in the next 15 years. Sino-Sri Lankan cooperation on the port project is expected to propel Hambantota, 240 kilometers south of the Lankan capital, Colombo, into a major transshipment hub. Hambantota's infrastructure will help service hundreds of ships that ply the waters to the south of Sri Lanka.
China's role in the Hambantota project has stirred concern in some quarters in India. Some analysts here have argued that India has lost out to the Chinese. They say China won the project thanks to Indian lethargy and shortsightedness. According to this view, while India has been dragging its feet on this and other issues, the Chinese quickly moved in to clinch the deal.
In the process, it has made inroads into Sri Lanka - a country that India regards as within its sphere of influence. However, there are others who have played down the implications of the Sino-Lankan cooperation at Hambantota. They dismiss allegations that India lost the port project to the Chinese and maintain that India was not interested in the Hambantota oil-tank farm and bunkering project in the first place, as it already has a sizable presence in Trincomalee on Sri Lanka's northeast coast.
"India feels that it is unnecessary to bid for it [Hambantota] given the fact that it is already refurbishing the World War II-vintage oil-tank farm at Trincomalee with 99 giant tanks. Out of these, only 35 can be put to use in the near future," a report in the Hindustan Times said in 2005. "There isn't enough business in Sri Lanka to make expansion worthwhile even in Trincomalee. India also does not consider the Hambantota project to be of a great strategic value, either. For India, a presence in Trincomalee makes much more strategic sense." An official in Delhi told Asia Times Online that while the Hambantota project gives the Chinese a foothold in Sri Lanka, this cannot be interpreted as a decline in India's role on the island. Geographic proximity, ethnic links and close ties between India and Sri Lanka cannot be eroded by a few projects and agreements with other countries, he said.
But the Chinese role in the Hambantota project is not just about influence in Sri Lanka. It is about China's presence close to Indian shores, which has implications for India's security. Besides, with Hambantota, Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean has been further consolidated. The Hambantota port project is the latest in a series of steps that China has taken in recent years to consolidate its access to the Indian Ocean and to secure sea lanes through which its energy supplies are transported.
It has adopted what analysts describe as a "string of pearls" strategy, building strategic relationships with countries along sea lanes from the Middle East to the South China Sea. One such "pearl" is Gwadar, Pakistan. Since late 2001, China has been engaged in constructing and developing a deepsea port and a special economic zone at Gwadar, in Balochistan province. China's interest in Gwadar is motivated by the latter's strategic location.
Gwadar is just 72km from the Iranian border and 400km east of the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit of global oil supplies. China's massive involvement in the Gwadar project - it has provided most of its funding and technical expertise - has provided Beijing with a "listening post" from where it can "monitor US naval activity in the Persian Gulf, Indian activity in the Arabian Sea, and future US-Indian maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean", Zia
Haider, an analyst at the Washington-based Stimson Center, has noted. Other "pearls" that China has been developing are naval facilities in Bangladesh, where it is developing a container-port facility at Chittagong; in Myanmar, where it is building radar, refit and refuel facilities at bases in Sittwe, Coco, Hianggyi, Khaukphyu, Mergui and Zadetkyi Kyun; and in Thailand and Cambodia. At this juncture the Hambantota project does not seem to be in the same league as Gwadar.
For one, it is not clear whether theSri Lankans want China to develop Hambantota on the lines of the Pakistani port. Besides, Hambantota does not sit at the mouth of the strategic Persian Gulf. Neither is the port as vital to China's energy security or trade and economic development as are other "pearls" such as Gwadar and Sittwe. But the significance of Hambantota to China lies in its proximity to India's south coast and on the fact that it provides Beijing with presence midway in the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean is a critical waterway for global trade and commerce. Half the world's containerized freight, a third of its bulk cargo and two-thirds of its oil shipments travel through the Indian Ocean. It provides major sea routes connecting Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia with Europe and the Americas and is home to several critical chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca. This makes the Indian Ocean important to the Chinese, the Americans, the Indians, the Japanese and scores of other countries, and hence the calculated moves of several powers to consolidate their presence in Indian Ocean littorals. This is the prime factor motivating the Americans to go for the ACSA with the Sri Lankans. The agreement provides a framework for increased interoperability to transfer and exchange logistics supplies, and support and refueling services during peacekeeping missions, humanitarian operations, and joint exercises.
In essence, it will give the Americans a base at India's doorstep. While the US has described this agreement as "a barter deal on goods and services" and as "a very routine and fairly moderate" agreement, others are warning that it has "major ramifications for the region, particularly India". "For all the sophistry and spin by the Americans, the ACSA is a military deal and, on the face of it, is loaded in Washington's favor," wrote Muralidhar Reddy, The Hindu's Colombo-based correspondent.
"For the US, it is as good as acquiring a base in the Indian Ocean, and at little or no cost. "Just a few years ago, such an agreement would have been inconceivable given the sensitivities of India in view of the geographical proximity of Sri Lanka. For example, the grant of permission by Colombo to Voice of America to establish its transmitter on the island and the leasing of oil tanks in Trincomalee port to pro-American firms were major bones of contention between India and Sri Lanka for decades," Reddy wrote.
But today New Delhi is silent. This is because of "the changed geopolitical environment in the post-Cold War era" and the changed India-US relationship. "The provisions of the ACSA cannot be described as being detrimental to New Delhi's interests in the current phase of its relations with Washington," wrote Reddy, adding: "However, in a possible new context, India has every reason to be concerned about the pact."
During the Cold War, India bitterly opposed the US presence in Diego Garcia, 1,600km to the south of India's coast. But today, with India-US relations blossoming, Delhi appears to have given its blessings to a US "base" in a country that is a few dozen kilometers from its coastline. Today it is only China lurking in waters near its coast that worries India. But both deals that Sri Lanka finalized with the Chinese and the Americans last week make India's southern neighborhood more crowded with extra-regional powers. This has implications for India's security and its interests and ambitions in the Indian Ocean.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
What they do-How they do!
http://www.slpa.lk/Trinco1.jpg
Three pronged strategy to re-develop Trinco PortSRI LANKA Ports Authority (SLPA) has decided to re develop South Asia's biggest natural harbour, in Trincomalee.
Vice Chairman Sri Lanka Ports Authority Dr. Krishan Deheragoda said this would be one of their priorities. Trincomalee has been neglected for the past two to three decades and this was the reason for the government to decide to re-develop the harbour. The SLPA has formulated a three pronged strategy for this purpose. The Trincomalee Port has over 500 acres of land out of which only less than 20 percent has been developed. Some of the land belonging to the Port has been encroached and the SLPA planning to relocate some of the encroached families out side the harbour area. Dr. Deheragoda said that the available land would be developed in three zones. One zone would be for tourism where land would be provided for building of hotels and other leisure activities. "We would be soon calling for expressions of interest (EOA) for this purpose," he said. The second zone would be for an industrial park. This area would provide space for ware houses, oil tanks and all other port related activities. The third area would be for relocating several families who have encroached land belonging to the SLPA. Dr. Deheragoda said that they are also planning to separate a special area for high end eco tourism. "What we are planning to do is to leave some of the existing land with thick jungle for this purpose," he said. The government will also focus on passenger transport operating to and from the Trincomalee Port since the area is a major tourist attraction. Trincomalee is a natural harbour which is approximately 18 hours sailing from the main lane of international waters. The inner port draft is unlimited and any type of vessels can be accommodated and co-ordinated. Trincomalee, is considered by military experts as one of the best deep sea ports in the world. It is situated strategically on the sea routes through which oil is carried from the Middle East to East and far-eastern Asia. According to observers, Trincomalee is a "strategic jewel". The Chinese government has already pledged assistance to develop the Hambantota harbour.ipping line would further boost volumes of the Colombo Port, he said.
Sri Lanka Breaks Ground For US$1.2 Billion Port Expansion 19 December 2006COLOMBO (Dow Jones)--
Sri Lanka has begun a US$1.2 billion project to triple the container-handling capacity of the island's main sea port. The Colombo port will add four terminals, each with four berths, under the project launched by President Mahinda Rajapakse late Monday.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said the Asian Development Bank has come forward with a LKR35 billion concessionary funding line to start the first phase. Construction work is expected to begin in July and be completed within 39 months, Wickramasuriya said during the ground-breaking ceremony Monday. "This is a long-awaited project, that will boost our business opportunities and enhance the economic development of our country," he said. Rajapakse said the port capacity would increase to 12 million containers a year from the current 4 million once the project was completed. Shipping Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the harbor facility would be government-owned but public-private partnerships would provide terminal services.
Coscon vessels will come to Colombo
http://www.slpa.lk/CompanyLogo/Cosco.gif
The first vessel of Coscon Shipping, one of the largest shipping lines in China will arrive at Colombo Port in July following an agreement signed with Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). Chief Representative in Sri Lanka of China Ocean Shipping (group) Company a subsidiary of Coscon Shipping, Xu Zhi Bin said yesterday at the occasion of signing the agreement that the shipping line decided to come to Colombo port since it is a feeder hub in the region and has very good infrastructure facilities. "Colombo Port's productivity too has improved and it is also located close to the main sea hub," he said. Chairman SLPA Dileepa Wijesundara said that Coscon Shipping's plan to come to Colombo Port shows the confidence the global leading shipping lines have in the Colombo Port. "This is a major plus point for the Colombo Port," he said. The Chairman also said that the Port is on an upward trend and they are in sight of achieving their targets. "Last April we recorded a 32 percent increased volume and this was a record," he said. The presence of Coscon Shipping, a fast growing Shipping line would further boost volumes of the Colombo Port, he said.
Three pronged strategy to re-develop Trinco PortSRI LANKA Ports Authority (SLPA) has decided to re develop South Asia's biggest natural harbour, in Trincomalee.
Vice Chairman Sri Lanka Ports Authority Dr. Krishan Deheragoda said this would be one of their priorities. Trincomalee has been neglected for the past two to three decades and this was the reason for the government to decide to re-develop the harbour. The SLPA has formulated a three pronged strategy for this purpose. The Trincomalee Port has over 500 acres of land out of which only less than 20 percent has been developed. Some of the land belonging to the Port has been encroached and the SLPA planning to relocate some of the encroached families out side the harbour area. Dr. Deheragoda said that the available land would be developed in three zones. One zone would be for tourism where land would be provided for building of hotels and other leisure activities. "We would be soon calling for expressions of interest (EOA) for this purpose," he said. The second zone would be for an industrial park. This area would provide space for ware houses, oil tanks and all other port related activities. The third area would be for relocating several families who have encroached land belonging to the SLPA. Dr. Deheragoda said that they are also planning to separate a special area for high end eco tourism. "What we are planning to do is to leave some of the existing land with thick jungle for this purpose," he said. The government will also focus on passenger transport operating to and from the Trincomalee Port since the area is a major tourist attraction. Trincomalee is a natural harbour which is approximately 18 hours sailing from the main lane of international waters. The inner port draft is unlimited and any type of vessels can be accommodated and co-ordinated. Trincomalee, is considered by military experts as one of the best deep sea ports in the world. It is situated strategically on the sea routes through which oil is carried from the Middle East to East and far-eastern Asia. According to observers, Trincomalee is a "strategic jewel". The Chinese government has already pledged assistance to develop the Hambantota harbour.ipping line would further boost volumes of the Colombo Port, he said.
Sri Lanka Breaks Ground For US$1.2 Billion Port Expansion 19 December 2006COLOMBO (Dow Jones)--
Sri Lanka has begun a US$1.2 billion project to triple the container-handling capacity of the island's main sea port. The Colombo port will add four terminals, each with four berths, under the project launched by President Mahinda Rajapakse late Monday.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said the Asian Development Bank has come forward with a LKR35 billion concessionary funding line to start the first phase. Construction work is expected to begin in July and be completed within 39 months, Wickramasuriya said during the ground-breaking ceremony Monday. "This is a long-awaited project, that will boost our business opportunities and enhance the economic development of our country," he said. Rajapakse said the port capacity would increase to 12 million containers a year from the current 4 million once the project was completed. Shipping Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the harbor facility would be government-owned but public-private partnerships would provide terminal services.
Coscon vessels will come to Colombo
http://www.slpa.lk/CompanyLogo/Cosco.gif
The first vessel of Coscon Shipping, one of the largest shipping lines in China will arrive at Colombo Port in July following an agreement signed with Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). Chief Representative in Sri Lanka of China Ocean Shipping (group) Company a subsidiary of Coscon Shipping, Xu Zhi Bin said yesterday at the occasion of signing the agreement that the shipping line decided to come to Colombo port since it is a feeder hub in the region and has very good infrastructure facilities. "Colombo Port's productivity too has improved and it is also located close to the main sea hub," he said. Chairman SLPA Dileepa Wijesundara said that Coscon Shipping's plan to come to Colombo Port shows the confidence the global leading shipping lines have in the Colombo Port. "This is a major plus point for the Colombo Port," he said. The Chairman also said that the Port is on an upward trend and they are in sight of achieving their targets. "Last April we recorded a 32 percent increased volume and this was a record," he said. The presence of Coscon Shipping, a fast growing Shipping line would further boost volumes of the Colombo Port, he said.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar to invest Rs1,300 cr in Maharashtra port
Rajeev Chandrasekhar to invest Rs1,300 cr in Maharashtra port
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who made a fortune by selling his stake in mobile service provider BPL Mobile, is betting big on the Indian ports sector.
Chandrasekhar, now a Rajya Sabha member, plans to develop and operate a Rs1,300 crore port at Vijaydurg, in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district through his firm Jupiter Capital, which is being awarded the project without any competitive bidding process.
“We have finalized a proposal to develop Vijaydurg port by Jupiter Capital for a (concession) period of 50 years. The government of Maharashtra is expected to approve the award, after which a formal announcement will be made,” said Sudhir Srivastava, chief executive officer of Maharashtra Maritime Board, the maritime regulator vested with the task of overseeing the development of ports owned by the government in the state.
Jupiter Capital, a venture firm of which Chandrasekhar is the chairman and chief executive officer, is being awarded the Vijaydurg port project through a memorandum of understanding.
This means that the project developer was identified without any competitive bidding process. The firm will build and operate the port for a period of 50 years from the date of award of the contract. When operational, within two-three years, Vijaydurg port will handle cargo for industries located in Satara, Sangli, Sholapur, Pune and Ahmednagar.
Being a non-major port, owned by the state government and not the Centre as in the case of ports such as those in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Haldia, Vijaydurg port will not be governed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator for Centre-owned ports.
“Hence, the operator of Vijaydurg port will have full freedom to fix tariffs for the services provided at the port,” Srivastava said.
Chandrasekhar, a former senior design engineer of the team that developed the 32-bit 80486 microprocessor at Intel Corp., is also looking at bidding for the planned Rs4,360 crore deep-water container terminal at Vizhinjam port, Kerala. After selling his stake in BPL Mobile in 2005 to rival Hutchison Essar for more than Rs1,000 crore, Chandrasekhar floated Jupiter Capital to focus on infrastructure, media and technology ventures.
Jupiter Capital set up Hindustan Infrastructure Projects & Engineering Pvt. Ltd to pursue investment opportunities in infrastructure areas such as transportation, utilities (such as water), electricity transmission and aviation.
Hindustan Infrastructure holds 24% stake in India Infrastructure and Logistics Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture firm floated by the Singapore government-owned global transportation and logistics firm, Neptune Orient Lines to provide rail freight services in India.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who made a fortune by selling his stake in mobile service provider BPL Mobile, is betting big on the Indian ports sector.
Chandrasekhar, now a Rajya Sabha member, plans to develop and operate a Rs1,300 crore port at Vijaydurg, in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district through his firm Jupiter Capital, which is being awarded the project without any competitive bidding process.
“We have finalized a proposal to develop Vijaydurg port by Jupiter Capital for a (concession) period of 50 years. The government of Maharashtra is expected to approve the award, after which a formal announcement will be made,” said Sudhir Srivastava, chief executive officer of Maharashtra Maritime Board, the maritime regulator vested with the task of overseeing the development of ports owned by the government in the state.
Jupiter Capital, a venture firm of which Chandrasekhar is the chairman and chief executive officer, is being awarded the Vijaydurg port project through a memorandum of understanding.
This means that the project developer was identified without any competitive bidding process. The firm will build and operate the port for a period of 50 years from the date of award of the contract. When operational, within two-three years, Vijaydurg port will handle cargo for industries located in Satara, Sangli, Sholapur, Pune and Ahmednagar.
Being a non-major port, owned by the state government and not the Centre as in the case of ports such as those in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Haldia, Vijaydurg port will not be governed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator for Centre-owned ports.
“Hence, the operator of Vijaydurg port will have full freedom to fix tariffs for the services provided at the port,” Srivastava said.
Chandrasekhar, a former senior design engineer of the team that developed the 32-bit 80486 microprocessor at Intel Corp., is also looking at bidding for the planned Rs4,360 crore deep-water container terminal at Vizhinjam port, Kerala. After selling his stake in BPL Mobile in 2005 to rival Hutchison Essar for more than Rs1,000 crore, Chandrasekhar floated Jupiter Capital to focus on infrastructure, media and technology ventures.
Jupiter Capital set up Hindustan Infrastructure Projects & Engineering Pvt. Ltd to pursue investment opportunities in infrastructure areas such as transportation, utilities (such as water), electricity transmission and aviation.
Hindustan Infrastructure holds 24% stake in India Infrastructure and Logistics Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture firm floated by the Singapore government-owned global transportation and logistics firm, Neptune Orient Lines to provide rail freight services in India.
Dhamra Port -L&T -Tata JV
Dhamra Port -L&T -Tata JV- Achieves financial closure
2007-03-01 13:14:09 Source : Moneycontrol.com
The Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL), a 50:50 joint venture company of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) and Tata Steel Limited, has achieved financial closure for development of an all-weather deep port north of the mouth of river Dhamra in Orissa. The Company signed the loan agreement at Chennai on 27th February 2007 with a consortium of lenders led by the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) who have agreed to part-finance the project cost of Rs.24.6 bn. The Company is also working with BNP Paribas for ECA funding.
Sheltered between the mainland and the Kanika Sands Island on the eastern coast, Dhamra Port will be the deepest all-weather port of its kind in India, with a draught of 18.5 meters, which can accommodate super cape-size vessels up to 180,000 DWT. This will be a boon to the mineral hinterland of north Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chattisgarh which are in close proximity to the port and where a large number of steel plants and mineral based industries are located, besides many more which are on the anvil. As the cargo of mineral and mineral-based industries is highly freight-sensitive, a deep draught port will be of great advantage, as such cargo can move in larger vessels, thus lowering the incidence of sea freight on the landed cost. The highly mechanized and advanced material handling facilities planned at the port will offer the users loading and discharge rates comparable to the world’s best. The port project includes a 62-km rail connectivity to the main Howrah-Chennai line at Bhadrak.
The port will eventually have 13 berths to handle over 83 million tons of cargo per annum. Of these, the first two berths, with a handling capacity of up to 25 million tons of bulk cargo per annum, will come up in the first phase. When fully developed, the port will handle all types of cargo, such as dry bulk, break bulk, liquid and container cargo. Apart from Tata Steel who is a co-promoter of the port, a number of other steel plants, mines and industries in the region will use the port, which will become eastern India’s major gateway to the world.
L&T’s Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC) Division will construct the modern port with all facilities, while International Dredging Seaport Company Limited, a JV of L&T and Dredging International of Belgium, will carry out the dredging.
Subsequent to the signing of the financing documents, Mr. S.K. Mohapatra (CEO, DPCL), remarked, “The Dhamra Port is going to be a major player in Tata Steel’s global plans and aspirations.” Mr. H.M. Nerurkar, Director, DPCL, & Vice President, Kalinganagar Project Orissa & Technology, said, “The Dhamra Port Project signifies the coming together of the largest steel industry in the private sector and the largest engineering and construction major. The project is bound to be a successful venture.”
Mr. K.V. Rangaswami (Director, DPCL and Member of L&T Board) who signed the documents on behalf of L&T, said, “L&T’s total construction capabilities encompassing various facets of engineering & construction, including supply of critical material handling equipment, will ensure timely completion of this project.” Mr. K.G. Hariharan (Director DPCL, & Senior Vice President, L&T–ECC), expressed satisfaction over “one more addition to L&T’s infrastructure ventures ” and was confident that the long association of L&T and Tata Steel is sure to make the project a great success.
2007-03-01 13:14:09 Source : Moneycontrol.com
The Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL), a 50:50 joint venture company of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) and Tata Steel Limited, has achieved financial closure for development of an all-weather deep port north of the mouth of river Dhamra in Orissa. The Company signed the loan agreement at Chennai on 27th February 2007 with a consortium of lenders led by the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) who have agreed to part-finance the project cost of Rs.24.6 bn. The Company is also working with BNP Paribas for ECA funding.
Sheltered between the mainland and the Kanika Sands Island on the eastern coast, Dhamra Port will be the deepest all-weather port of its kind in India, with a draught of 18.5 meters, which can accommodate super cape-size vessels up to 180,000 DWT. This will be a boon to the mineral hinterland of north Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chattisgarh which are in close proximity to the port and where a large number of steel plants and mineral based industries are located, besides many more which are on the anvil. As the cargo of mineral and mineral-based industries is highly freight-sensitive, a deep draught port will be of great advantage, as such cargo can move in larger vessels, thus lowering the incidence of sea freight on the landed cost. The highly mechanized and advanced material handling facilities planned at the port will offer the users loading and discharge rates comparable to the world’s best. The port project includes a 62-km rail connectivity to the main Howrah-Chennai line at Bhadrak.
The port will eventually have 13 berths to handle over 83 million tons of cargo per annum. Of these, the first two berths, with a handling capacity of up to 25 million tons of bulk cargo per annum, will come up in the first phase. When fully developed, the port will handle all types of cargo, such as dry bulk, break bulk, liquid and container cargo. Apart from Tata Steel who is a co-promoter of the port, a number of other steel plants, mines and industries in the region will use the port, which will become eastern India’s major gateway to the world.
L&T’s Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC) Division will construct the modern port with all facilities, while International Dredging Seaport Company Limited, a JV of L&T and Dredging International of Belgium, will carry out the dredging.
Subsequent to the signing of the financing documents, Mr. S.K. Mohapatra (CEO, DPCL), remarked, “The Dhamra Port is going to be a major player in Tata Steel’s global plans and aspirations.” Mr. H.M. Nerurkar, Director, DPCL, & Vice President, Kalinganagar Project Orissa & Technology, said, “The Dhamra Port Project signifies the coming together of the largest steel industry in the private sector and the largest engineering and construction major. The project is bound to be a successful venture.”
Mr. K.V. Rangaswami (Director, DPCL and Member of L&T Board) who signed the documents on behalf of L&T, said, “L&T’s total construction capabilities encompassing various facets of engineering & construction, including supply of critical material handling equipment, will ensure timely completion of this project.” Mr. K.G. Hariharan (Director DPCL, & Senior Vice President, L&T–ECC), expressed satisfaction over “one more addition to L&T’s infrastructure ventures ” and was confident that the long association of L&T and Tata Steel is sure to make the project a great success.
Get REAL
Rajeev Chandrasekhar to invest Rs1,300 cr in Maharashtra port
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who made a fortune by selling his stake in mobile service provider BPL Mobile, is betting big on the Indian ports sector.
Chandrasekhar, now a Rajya Sabha member, plans to develop and operate a Rs1,300 crore port at Vijaydurg, in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district through his firm Jupiter Capital, which is being awarded the project without any competitive bidding process.
“We have finalized a proposal to develop Vijaydurg port by Jupiter Capital for a (concession) period of 50 years. The government of Maharashtra is expected to approve the award, after which a formal announcement will be made,” said Sudhir Srivastava, chief executive officer of Maharashtra Maritime Board, the maritime regulator vested with the task of overseeing the development of ports owned by the government in the state.
Jupiter Capital, a venture firm of which Chandrasekhar is the chairman and chief executive officer, is being awarded the Vijaydurg port project through a memorandum of understanding.
This means that the project developer was identified without any competitive bidding process. The firm will build and operate the port for a period of 50 years from the date of award of the contract. When operational, within two-three years, Vijaydurg port will handle cargo for industries located in Satara, Sangli, Sholapur, Pune and Ahmednagar.
Being a non-major port, owned by the state government and not the Centre as in the case of ports such as those in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Haldia, Vijaydurg port will not be governed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator for Centre-owned ports.
“Hence, the operator of Vijaydurg port will have full freedom to fix tariffs for the services provided at the port,” Srivastava said.
Chandrasekhar, a former senior design engineer of the team that developed the 32-bit 80486 microprocessor at Intel Corp., is also looking at bidding for the planned Rs4,360 crore deep-water container terminal at Vizhinjam port, Kerala. After selling his stake in BPL Mobile in 2005 to rival Hutchison Essar for more than Rs1,000 crore, Chandrasekhar floated Jupiter Capital to focus on infrastructure, media and technology ventures.
Jupiter Capital set up Hindustan Infrastructure Projects & Engineering Pvt. Ltd to pursue investment opportunities in infrastructure areas such as transportation, utilities (such as water), electricity transmission and aviation.
Hindustan Infrastructure holds 24% stake in India Infrastructure and Logistics Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture firm floated by the Singapore government-owned global transportation and logistics firm, Neptune Orient Lines to provide rail freight services in India.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who made a fortune by selling his stake in mobile service provider BPL Mobile, is betting big on the Indian ports sector.
Chandrasekhar, now a Rajya Sabha member, plans to develop and operate a Rs1,300 crore port at Vijaydurg, in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district through his firm Jupiter Capital, which is being awarded the project without any competitive bidding process.
“We have finalized a proposal to develop Vijaydurg port by Jupiter Capital for a (concession) period of 50 years. The government of Maharashtra is expected to approve the award, after which a formal announcement will be made,” said Sudhir Srivastava, chief executive officer of Maharashtra Maritime Board, the maritime regulator vested with the task of overseeing the development of ports owned by the government in the state.
Jupiter Capital, a venture firm of which Chandrasekhar is the chairman and chief executive officer, is being awarded the Vijaydurg port project through a memorandum of understanding.
This means that the project developer was identified without any competitive bidding process. The firm will build and operate the port for a period of 50 years from the date of award of the contract. When operational, within two-three years, Vijaydurg port will handle cargo for industries located in Satara, Sangli, Sholapur, Pune and Ahmednagar.
Being a non-major port, owned by the state government and not the Centre as in the case of ports such as those in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Haldia, Vijaydurg port will not be governed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator for Centre-owned ports.
“Hence, the operator of Vijaydurg port will have full freedom to fix tariffs for the services provided at the port,” Srivastava said.
Chandrasekhar, a former senior design engineer of the team that developed the 32-bit 80486 microprocessor at Intel Corp., is also looking at bidding for the planned Rs4,360 crore deep-water container terminal at Vizhinjam port, Kerala. After selling his stake in BPL Mobile in 2005 to rival Hutchison Essar for more than Rs1,000 crore, Chandrasekhar floated Jupiter Capital to focus on infrastructure, media and technology ventures.
Jupiter Capital set up Hindustan Infrastructure Projects & Engineering Pvt. Ltd to pursue investment opportunities in infrastructure areas such as transportation, utilities (such as water), electricity transmission and aviation.
Hindustan Infrastructure holds 24% stake in India Infrastructure and Logistics Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture firm floated by the Singapore government-owned global transportation and logistics firm, Neptune Orient Lines to provide rail freight services in India.
What "Real" people do
Videocon to set up Rs 1600 crore port
P R Sanjai / Mumbai June 22, 2007
The Videocon group, which is into consumer electronics and oil and gas, is planning to foray into port development.
Videocon, which is developing two special economic zones (SEZs) in Pune and Aurangabad, has firmed up plans to develop a minor port in Alewadi in Thane for Rs 1,600 crore. Sources said Videocon was in talks with the Maharashtra government in this regard.
Videocon Industries Chairman and Managing Director Venugopal Dhoot said, “As of now, there are no such plans and we are not bidding for Alewadi port.”
However, sources at the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) confirmed that Videocon Industries was leading the race for Alewadi Port development.
Alewadi Port will not be a cakewalk for Videocon as there are other leading corporates participating in the race. The sources said engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Nikhil Gandhi-promoted Sea King Infrastructure (SKIL) were in the fray, apart from overseas investors.
The MMB will have a minority stake in the project, which needs heavy investment in deepening the shipping channel to accommodate big vessels.
“Videocon is facing stiff competition from L&T, which has huge exposure to the port development business. The Maharashtra government is likely to take a final decision on this shortly,” a source added.
The proposed site of the port development is off the coast near Alewadi village, south of Ucheli creek, 70 km away from Mumbai.
The proposed port will be a multi-purpose facility, which will be handling bulk and liquid cargo with 5 to 6 berths.
Industry experts said a multi-purpose berth would supplement Videocon’s SEZ initiatives. “The cargo generated in the SEZ can be evacuated through this proposed port by setting up a road and rail connectivity,” they added.
Recently, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries had acquired a controlling stake from Amma Lines, which was developing Rewas port, around 10 nautical miles off Mumbai harbour. Reliance Industries is likely to position Rewas port as a gateway to the two SEZs developed by the group in Navi Mumbai.
According to the MMB, Alewadi port holds tremendous economic potential with Tarapur Industrial Estate comprising engineering, chemical, textiles, paints, drugs and pharmaceuticals industries.
Alewadi can be served as a good feeder port for containers to supplement Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). “There is scope for passenger transportation services from Mumbai to Alewadi for meeting the growing needs of the commuters in Mumbai,” they said. Consultant major Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is advising MMB in this project.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Chandrasekhar-promoted Hindustan Infrastructure is likely to develop Vijaydurg Port in Sindhudurg, while Redi port would be developed by Earnest Shipping. Mumbai-based shipping major Chowgule Steampship has secured a contract from the MMB for developing Jaigad port for handling 4 million tonnes of cargo by constructing of four berths and a dry dock.
The MMB is the nodal agency, which takes care of the regulatory and developmental framework of the state’s maritime activities.
P R Sanjai / Mumbai June 22, 2007
The Videocon group, which is into consumer electronics and oil and gas, is planning to foray into port development.
Videocon, which is developing two special economic zones (SEZs) in Pune and Aurangabad, has firmed up plans to develop a minor port in Alewadi in Thane for Rs 1,600 crore. Sources said Videocon was in talks with the Maharashtra government in this regard.
Videocon Industries Chairman and Managing Director Venugopal Dhoot said, “As of now, there are no such plans and we are not bidding for Alewadi port.”
However, sources at the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) confirmed that Videocon Industries was leading the race for Alewadi Port development.
Alewadi Port will not be a cakewalk for Videocon as there are other leading corporates participating in the race. The sources said engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Nikhil Gandhi-promoted Sea King Infrastructure (SKIL) were in the fray, apart from overseas investors.
The MMB will have a minority stake in the project, which needs heavy investment in deepening the shipping channel to accommodate big vessels.
“Videocon is facing stiff competition from L&T, which has huge exposure to the port development business. The Maharashtra government is likely to take a final decision on this shortly,” a source added.
The proposed site of the port development is off the coast near Alewadi village, south of Ucheli creek, 70 km away from Mumbai.
The proposed port will be a multi-purpose facility, which will be handling bulk and liquid cargo with 5 to 6 berths.
Industry experts said a multi-purpose berth would supplement Videocon’s SEZ initiatives. “The cargo generated in the SEZ can be evacuated through this proposed port by setting up a road and rail connectivity,” they added.
Recently, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries had acquired a controlling stake from Amma Lines, which was developing Rewas port, around 10 nautical miles off Mumbai harbour. Reliance Industries is likely to position Rewas port as a gateway to the two SEZs developed by the group in Navi Mumbai.
According to the MMB, Alewadi port holds tremendous economic potential with Tarapur Industrial Estate comprising engineering, chemical, textiles, paints, drugs and pharmaceuticals industries.
Alewadi can be served as a good feeder port for containers to supplement Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). “There is scope for passenger transportation services from Mumbai to Alewadi for meeting the growing needs of the commuters in Mumbai,” they said. Consultant major Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is advising MMB in this project.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Chandrasekhar-promoted Hindustan Infrastructure is likely to develop Vijaydurg Port in Sindhudurg, while Redi port would be developed by Earnest Shipping. Mumbai-based shipping major Chowgule Steampship has secured a contract from the MMB for developing Jaigad port for handling 4 million tonnes of cargo by constructing of four berths and a dry dock.
The MMB is the nodal agency, which takes care of the regulatory and developmental framework of the state’s maritime activities.
'Bureaucrats trying to subvert Vizhinjam project'
'Bureaucrats trying to subvert Vizhinjam project'
Friday June 22 2007 10:29 IST
T’PURAM: The Janapaksham has alleged that certain bureaucrats were trying to subvert the proposed deepwater container transhipment hub project at Vizhinjam.Officials in the Finance Department have failed to ensure that the project meets the deadlines fixed on April 17, when the State Government had organised an investors' meet for the project, Janapaksham secretary T S Swaminathan said in a statement here. Janapaksham had organised a meeting to protest against the delay.The Finance Department is blocking the payment of dues amounting to Rs 80 lakh to the IL&FS and Rs 15 lakh to the L&T-RAMBOLL. It is learnt that L&T-RAMBOLL will take another two months to prepare fresh estimates for the project, the Janapaksham alleged.The organisation said it was part of the same conspiracy that the Ports Secretary, who was CEO of Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL), the nodal agency for the project, was kept away from the finance committee formed for the fund utilisation of the VISL.Appukuttan Pillai presided over the meeting.
Dr.K S Manoj, T S Swaminathan, K C S Nair, Rajappan and Ramakrishna Pillai spoke.
Newindpress
Friday June 22 2007 10:29 IST
T’PURAM: The Janapaksham has alleged that certain bureaucrats were trying to subvert the proposed deepwater container transhipment hub project at Vizhinjam.Officials in the Finance Department have failed to ensure that the project meets the deadlines fixed on April 17, when the State Government had organised an investors' meet for the project, Janapaksham secretary T S Swaminathan said in a statement here. Janapaksham had organised a meeting to protest against the delay.The Finance Department is blocking the payment of dues amounting to Rs 80 lakh to the IL&FS and Rs 15 lakh to the L&T-RAMBOLL. It is learnt that L&T-RAMBOLL will take another two months to prepare fresh estimates for the project, the Janapaksham alleged.The organisation said it was part of the same conspiracy that the Ports Secretary, who was CEO of Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL), the nodal agency for the project, was kept away from the finance committee formed for the fund utilisation of the VISL.Appukuttan Pillai presided over the meeting.
Dr.K S Manoj, T S Swaminathan, K C S Nair, Rajappan and Ramakrishna Pillai spoke.
Newindpress
Friday, June 22, 2007
Tender process for Vizhinjam port to be completed soon
Tender process for Vizhinjam port to be completed soon
Staff Reporter
First phase of the project to be completed within three years
Security clearance hinders projectGovernment to take up projects under public-private partnership
Thiruvananthapuram: The tender process for the Vizhinjam international container transhipment terminal will be completed this year and the first phase of the project within three years, Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Friday, the Minister said 43 companies, including 12 foreign firms, had participated in the investors meet held in the capital city in April.
A company, sponsored by the Russian Government, had evinced interest in the project, he said.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the security clearance was the main hurdle in the implementation of the project.
The State Government had been advised to consider national interest and internal security while evaluating the tenders.
Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES) had been entrusted with the feasibility study on the rail and road connectivity to the port. The Rs.45 lakh-study would be completed within four months. Agreement
An agreement would soon be signed with the Kerala Water Authority for making available water from Vellayani Lake to the proposed port at a cost of Rs.3.89 crore. Talks were on with the Kerala State Electricity Board for ensuring power supply to the port.
The Minister said Vizhinjam was among the six ports in the State that would be developed in the first phase. The others are at Thangaserri, Alappuzha, Ponnani, Beypore, Azheekal.
He said Azheekal had been included in the National Maritime Programme of the Union Government. Land measuring 1.8 hectares would be acquired for the project estimated to cost Rs.1,387 crore.
The work on the port at Thangaserri was nearing completion and would be commissioned soon.
A marina and cargo port had been proposed for Alappuzha taking into account its tourism potential.
Huge investment would be needed for the development of the ports and the Government planned to take up the projects under public-private partnership.Maritime academies
Mr. Vijayakumar said the Government would set up maritime academies at Majeshwaram and Valiathura in Thiruvananthapuram.
Although land had been identified at Manjeshwaram, the progress of the project at Valiathura had hit a bottleneck. Replying to a question, the Minister said priority would be accorded to the rail-road connectivity for the proposed Vallarpadam project.
Staff Reporter
First phase of the project to be completed within three years
Security clearance hinders projectGovernment to take up projects under public-private partnership
Thiruvananthapuram: The tender process for the Vizhinjam international container transhipment terminal will be completed this year and the first phase of the project within three years, Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Friday, the Minister said 43 companies, including 12 foreign firms, had participated in the investors meet held in the capital city in April.
A company, sponsored by the Russian Government, had evinced interest in the project, he said.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the security clearance was the main hurdle in the implementation of the project.
The State Government had been advised to consider national interest and internal security while evaluating the tenders.
Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES) had been entrusted with the feasibility study on the rail and road connectivity to the port. The Rs.45 lakh-study would be completed within four months. Agreement
An agreement would soon be signed with the Kerala Water Authority for making available water from Vellayani Lake to the proposed port at a cost of Rs.3.89 crore. Talks were on with the Kerala State Electricity Board for ensuring power supply to the port.
The Minister said Vizhinjam was among the six ports in the State that would be developed in the first phase. The others are at Thangaserri, Alappuzha, Ponnani, Beypore, Azheekal.
He said Azheekal had been included in the National Maritime Programme of the Union Government. Land measuring 1.8 hectares would be acquired for the project estimated to cost Rs.1,387 crore.
The work on the port at Thangaserri was nearing completion and would be commissioned soon.
A marina and cargo port had been proposed for Alappuzha taking into account its tourism potential.
Huge investment would be needed for the development of the ports and the Government planned to take up the projects under public-private partnership.Maritime academies
Mr. Vijayakumar said the Government would set up maritime academies at Majeshwaram and Valiathura in Thiruvananthapuram.
Although land had been identified at Manjeshwaram, the progress of the project at Valiathura had hit a bottleneck. Replying to a question, the Minister said priority would be accorded to the rail-road connectivity for the proposed Vallarpadam project.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
JANAPAKSHAM to launch offensive against Mr.Jose Cyriac
Janapaksham Executive Committee has decided to launch protests against The Principal Secretary Finance Mr.Jose Cyriac who is playing all cards against the Vizhinjam project
A memorandum will be submitted to Finance Minister Sri.Thomas Isaac and Chief Minister Sri.V.S.Achuthanandan
Memorandum also will be given to Port minister Sri.M.Vijayakumar , Fisheries minister Sri.S.Sharma and Water resources Sri.N.K.Premachandran- these 5 forms the VISL Director board
An indefinite relay strike in front of Secretariat is on cards - if the tender process does not start by August
A memorandum will be submitted to Finance Minister Sri.Thomas Isaac and Chief Minister Sri.V.S.Achuthanandan
Memorandum also will be given to Port minister Sri.M.Vijayakumar , Fisheries minister Sri.S.Sharma and Water resources Sri.N.K.Premachandran- these 5 forms the VISL Director board
An indefinite relay strike in front of Secretariat is on cards - if the tender process does not start by August
What Mr.Jose Cyriac has done ?
1.He drowned critical files and file notes during UDF regime - so that the International bid wont happen . The decision to go for International tender process was taken in the cabinet meeting without the files .This was revealed by none other than the former Chief Secretary of Kerala Sri.Vijayan Unni , in a famous meeting at Hotel Pankaj organised by Janapaksham. The clip was shown in TV channels for two days
2. The dates were very crucial - if that cabinet decision was not taken the tender process could not have proceeded and the entire exercise would have faltered . Vizhinjam could have ended up as a failed project
3.He is playing the same cards again . He wont release the money for IL&FS ,approx 80 Lakhs. For the consultation fees to be given to them for the work on previous international tender. He wont release money for L&T Ramboll ,approx 15 Lakhs for the project report
4.The same companies are now entrusted with consultancy . They wont start work unless the previous dues are given to them . This man knows how to play.Delay the files in his desk.
5.A committee has been formed to look after finacial affairs of VISL (Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited) . Mr.Jose cyriac is the chief. Port Secretary Sri.L.Radhakrishnan has been purposefully avoided from this committee, so that this man can play freely.now Mr.Radhakrishnan has done major work for the project till now.
So WHO is Jose Cyriac ?
He is
K. JOSE CYRIAC
Principal Secretary Finance
Government of Kerala
2. The dates were very crucial - if that cabinet decision was not taken the tender process could not have proceeded and the entire exercise would have faltered . Vizhinjam could have ended up as a failed project
3.He is playing the same cards again . He wont release the money for IL&FS ,approx 80 Lakhs. For the consultation fees to be given to them for the work on previous international tender. He wont release money for L&T Ramboll ,approx 15 Lakhs for the project report
4.The same companies are now entrusted with consultancy . They wont start work unless the previous dues are given to them . This man knows how to play.Delay the files in his desk.
5.A committee has been formed to look after finacial affairs of VISL (Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited) . Mr.Jose cyriac is the chief. Port Secretary Sri.L.Radhakrishnan has been purposefully avoided from this committee, so that this man can play freely.now Mr.Radhakrishnan has done major work for the project till now.
So WHO is Jose Cyriac ?
He is
K. JOSE CYRIAC
Principal Secretary Finance
Government of Kerala
New realities
THE SHASHI THAROOR COLUMN
Kerala has never been a hot destination for industrial investment because of the heavily politicised environment. But things may be changing…
OVER the years, in this space, I have talked about the strengths of Kerala — its liberality, its pluralism, its literacy, its empowerment of women, its openness to the world. But it’s difficult to deny that despite all this, the State has acquired a less than positive reputation as a place to invest. “Keralites are far too conscious of their rights and not enough of their duties,” one expatriate Malayali businessman told me. “It’s impossible to get any work done by a Keralite labour force — and then there are those unions!” He sighed. “Every time we persuade an industrialist to invest in Kerala, it ends badly. The late G.D. Birla put a Gwalior Rayons plant in Mavoor — it has long since closed. The Doshis of Mumbai started the Premier Tyre factory in Kalamassery — you know the fate of that plant? The late Raunaq Singh set up the first Apollo Tyres plant in Chalakudi, but all the expansions of Apollo Tyres since then went to other States such as Gujarat, as neither Raunaq or his son Omkar could deal with the politically charged trade unions.” He shook his head. “I am a Malayali,” he declared, “but I would not advise anyone to invest in Kerala.”Outdated notions
It was with his words ringing in my years that I stepped gingerly into my home State in May. Newly freed from my career as a U.N. official, I wanted to see what I could do for Kerala’s development, in particular by opening the eyes of foreign investors to what the State had to offer. What I saw and heard there convinces me that my friend’s pessimism is, at the very least, out of date.
For one thing, the attitude of the work force is not what it was. It’s always been a curious paradox that Keralites put in long hours in places like the Gulf, where they have earned a reputation for being hard-working and utterly reliable, while at home they are seen as indolent and strike-prone. Surely the same people couldn’t be so different in two different places? And yet they were — for one simple reason: the politicised environment at home. It’s a reputation that has come to haunt Kerala. Several people told me the story of how BMW had been persuaded to install a car-manufacturing plant in the State, thanks to generous concessions by the government. But the very day the BMW executives arrived in Kerala to sign the deal, they were greeted by a bandh: the State had shut down over some marginal political issue, cars were being blocked on the streets, shops were closed by a hartal. It had nothing to do with BMW or with foreign investme nt, but the executives — or so I was told — beat a hasty retreat. The plant has now been set up in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Kerala’s political and business leaders are aware of this story. But few are aware of the counter-narrative. Last year I met Antony Prince, a Malayali long settled in the Bahamas, who is President of a major ship design company there, GTR Campbell (GTRC). GTRC had built many ships around the world, and its contracts had helped revive China’s Xingang Shipyard. Why not try and do the same in his native land, Prince wondered. Ignoring all the friendly (negative) advice he was given, he decided to get one of his huge “Trader” class double-hull bulk carriers built at Kerala’s Cochin Shipyard. This was a major undertaking: GTRC’s Trader class ships are 30,000 tons deadweight, have cargo holds of 40,000 cubic metres in capacity, and are meant to sail over a range of 15,500 nautical miles, so the task would have challenged a more experienced shipyard. But as the work unfolded, Prince realised he need not have worried. Not only was there not a single strike or work stoppage, but the shipyard workers took pride in having been given such a major assignment. They finished the job to GTRC’s complete satisfaction — ahead of deadline. Five more ships will now be built in Cochin; it’s the shipyard’s largest-ever order. Greater possibilities
But the potential is even greater. Working with GTRC had transformed Xingang into a world-class shipbuilder; there is no reason why the same cannot happen in Kochi. Mr. Prince was enthusiastic about the prospects. “The officers and workers in the Cochin yard have proved that they can do it, launching the first vessel on schedule, with first-rate quality and meeting international shipbuilding standards”, he said. “I hope the message will spread.” It should. The interesting point is that shipbuilding is a highly labour-intensive industry; some 30 per cent of the input is human labour, which is what makes it ideal for a country like India. The workers at Cochin Shipyard — unionised to a man — demonstrated that labour remains India’s greatest asset, even in Kerala. It is not, as skittish investors had long feared, a liability.
A visit to Thiruvananthapuram’s Technopark confirmed my impression that the sceptics are behind the curve. CEO after CEO told me in glowing terms of their satisfaction with the work environment in Kerala, the quality of the local engineering graduates, and the beauty of the lush and tranquil surroundings. Indeed, Kerala’s past failures at attracting and retaining heavy industry are now working in the State’s favour. Tranquil surroundings
One Technopark firm, US Technologies, told me of having bid for a contract with a Houston-based company which had drawn up a short-list of Indian service providers and placed the Thiruvananthapuram-based company last. The American executives making the final decision flew down to India to inspect the six short-listed Indian firms. After three harrowing days ploughing through the traffic congestion and pollution of Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi, they arrived in Thiruvananthapuram, checked into the Leela at Kovalam beach, sipped a drink by the seaside at sunset — and voted unanimously to give the contract to US Technologies. “If we have to visit India from time to time to see how our contract is doing,” the chief said, “we’d rather visit Kerala than any other place in India.”
As they say in the U.S.: Sounds like a plan! It is time that Indian investors took notice as well. God’s Own Country no longer deserves the business reputation of being the devil’s playground.
Kerala has never been a hot destination for industrial investment because of the heavily politicised environment. But things may be changing…
OVER the years, in this space, I have talked about the strengths of Kerala — its liberality, its pluralism, its literacy, its empowerment of women, its openness to the world. But it’s difficult to deny that despite all this, the State has acquired a less than positive reputation as a place to invest. “Keralites are far too conscious of their rights and not enough of their duties,” one expatriate Malayali businessman told me. “It’s impossible to get any work done by a Keralite labour force — and then there are those unions!” He sighed. “Every time we persuade an industrialist to invest in Kerala, it ends badly. The late G.D. Birla put a Gwalior Rayons plant in Mavoor — it has long since closed. The Doshis of Mumbai started the Premier Tyre factory in Kalamassery — you know the fate of that plant? The late Raunaq Singh set up the first Apollo Tyres plant in Chalakudi, but all the expansions of Apollo Tyres since then went to other States such as Gujarat, as neither Raunaq or his son Omkar could deal with the politically charged trade unions.” He shook his head. “I am a Malayali,” he declared, “but I would not advise anyone to invest in Kerala.”Outdated notions
It was with his words ringing in my years that I stepped gingerly into my home State in May. Newly freed from my career as a U.N. official, I wanted to see what I could do for Kerala’s development, in particular by opening the eyes of foreign investors to what the State had to offer. What I saw and heard there convinces me that my friend’s pessimism is, at the very least, out of date.
For one thing, the attitude of the work force is not what it was. It’s always been a curious paradox that Keralites put in long hours in places like the Gulf, where they have earned a reputation for being hard-working and utterly reliable, while at home they are seen as indolent and strike-prone. Surely the same people couldn’t be so different in two different places? And yet they were — for one simple reason: the politicised environment at home. It’s a reputation that has come to haunt Kerala. Several people told me the story of how BMW had been persuaded to install a car-manufacturing plant in the State, thanks to generous concessions by the government. But the very day the BMW executives arrived in Kerala to sign the deal, they were greeted by a bandh: the State had shut down over some marginal political issue, cars were being blocked on the streets, shops were closed by a hartal. It had nothing to do with BMW or with foreign investme nt, but the executives — or so I was told — beat a hasty retreat. The plant has now been set up in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Kerala’s political and business leaders are aware of this story. But few are aware of the counter-narrative. Last year I met Antony Prince, a Malayali long settled in the Bahamas, who is President of a major ship design company there, GTR Campbell (GTRC). GTRC had built many ships around the world, and its contracts had helped revive China’s Xingang Shipyard. Why not try and do the same in his native land, Prince wondered. Ignoring all the friendly (negative) advice he was given, he decided to get one of his huge “Trader” class double-hull bulk carriers built at Kerala’s Cochin Shipyard. This was a major undertaking: GTRC’s Trader class ships are 30,000 tons deadweight, have cargo holds of 40,000 cubic metres in capacity, and are meant to sail over a range of 15,500 nautical miles, so the task would have challenged a more experienced shipyard. But as the work unfolded, Prince realised he need not have worried. Not only was there not a single strike or work stoppage, but the shipyard workers took pride in having been given such a major assignment. They finished the job to GTRC’s complete satisfaction — ahead of deadline. Five more ships will now be built in Cochin; it’s the shipyard’s largest-ever order. Greater possibilities
But the potential is even greater. Working with GTRC had transformed Xingang into a world-class shipbuilder; there is no reason why the same cannot happen in Kochi. Mr. Prince was enthusiastic about the prospects. “The officers and workers in the Cochin yard have proved that they can do it, launching the first vessel on schedule, with first-rate quality and meeting international shipbuilding standards”, he said. “I hope the message will spread.” It should. The interesting point is that shipbuilding is a highly labour-intensive industry; some 30 per cent of the input is human labour, which is what makes it ideal for a country like India. The workers at Cochin Shipyard — unionised to a man — demonstrated that labour remains India’s greatest asset, even in Kerala. It is not, as skittish investors had long feared, a liability.
A visit to Thiruvananthapuram’s Technopark confirmed my impression that the sceptics are behind the curve. CEO after CEO told me in glowing terms of their satisfaction with the work environment in Kerala, the quality of the local engineering graduates, and the beauty of the lush and tranquil surroundings. Indeed, Kerala’s past failures at attracting and retaining heavy industry are now working in the State’s favour. Tranquil surroundings
One Technopark firm, US Technologies, told me of having bid for a contract with a Houston-based company which had drawn up a short-list of Indian service providers and placed the Thiruvananthapuram-based company last. The American executives making the final decision flew down to India to inspect the six short-listed Indian firms. After three harrowing days ploughing through the traffic congestion and pollution of Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi, they arrived in Thiruvananthapuram, checked into the Leela at Kovalam beach, sipped a drink by the seaside at sunset — and voted unanimously to give the contract to US Technologies. “If we have to visit India from time to time to see how our contract is doing,” the chief said, “we’d rather visit Kerala than any other place in India.”
As they say in the U.S.: Sounds like a plan! It is time that Indian investors took notice as well. God’s Own Country no longer deserves the business reputation of being the devil’s playground.
Vizhinjam: Pact signed with RITES
Our BureauThiruvananthapuram May 31 The Kerala Government has signed an agreement with Rail India Technical and Economic Service Ltd (RITES) for preparing a detailed report on establishing road and rail connectivity to the proposed international container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam, near here.The Minister for Ports, Mr M. Vijayakumar, who presided over the function here on Thursday, said that the contract for execution of the project was expected to be finalised by December.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Port competition reaches subcontinental proportions
Port competition reaches subcontinental proportions
T. E. Raja Simhan
COLOMBO PORT is facing increasing competition from Indian facilities.
The southern ports of Chennai and Tuticorin are gearing up with plans to become major container transhipment hubs, with Ennore (near Chennai) to join them. Vallarpadam in Kerala is to have an international container transhipment terminal. Colachel in Tamil Nadu is being considered for a container terminal. And Tuticorin plans to have a new outer harbour with major focus on container handling.
Colombo Plans
Against this backdrop, the Colombo port, which is among the top 40 container ports world-wide, is investing over Rs 2,500 crore on a new outer deepwater harbour.
It plans to become a major maritime hub in the region. Colombo, till recently the dominant port in the region, is facing increasing competition from Indian facilities, which are getting more container volumes thanks to the economic growth. Now, Colombo handles around 3 million TEUs against its capacity of 3.7 m TEUs. At the current growth rate, the port will reach full capacity by 2010.
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority, through a funding from the Asian Development Bank, plans to construct a new outer deepwater harbour enclosed by new breakwaters to handle the next generation ships. The project will abut the current Port of Colombo.
The construction of the basic infrastructure will be followed by the building of three terminals in stages. The first terminal will be constructed as public-private enterprise on build-own-transfer basis, according to information available on the SLPA web site.
The proposed Colombo Port Expansion Project will be designed to accommodate vessels with an overall length of 400 metre, beam of 55 metres and draft of 16 metres. Each of the four terminals will have a capacity to handle 2.4 million TEUs per annum.
The Colombo port lies at the centre of the main east-west shipping route, which links the Asia-Pacific region with Europe and North America. Further, the short transit time to India creates an opportunity to access the expanding markets of the Indian subcontinent.
Port of Colombo had established its position as the dominant transhipment port for the Indian subcontinent by the mid-1990s. Its container traffic rose from 0.6 million TEUs in 1990 to 1.7 million TEUs in 1997. However, after 1997, Colombo entered a period of stagnation with traffic remaining at 1.7 million TEU per annum until 2002.
Indian cargo
The expansion at the Colombo port will not affect the Indian facilities, according to experts such as Mr N. K. Raghupathy, Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust. The total container traffic of 5.4 million TEUs in 2006-07 at Indian ports is expected to grow at 12 per cent per annum the next few years.
This will taper off to 9 per cent in 2010 and 7 per cent after 2015. This forecast is based on "export growth predicted by authoritative forecasting bodies" and marginal additional container penetration. India handles 5.4 million TEUs, while China handles over 40 million TEUs. With the Indian economy booming and with no signs of China's growth abating, huge opportunities exist for transhipment of containers in South Asia. Tuticorin aims to reach the status of a regional transhipment hub by 2011-12, says Mr Raghupathy.
"I believe that Colombo, Tuticorin, Chennai, Vallarpadam, Vizhinjam and Colachel will all have their share of the transhipment traffic. The infrastructure creation at Tuticorin, Colachel or Vallarpadam is not only with 2011-12 in mind but also to meet the demand several years ahead."
As per the National Maritime Development Programme of the Centre, India's container throughput will more than triple by 2011-12 from 5.5 million teus in 2006-07.
With 27 container berths (of about 300 m length each) available in the country, huge additional capacity for handling containers needs to be developed in major or non-major ports.
As Mr Raghupathy said: "The question is not whether there will be enough cargo, but whether there will be enough infrastructure to handle the country's cargo. Additional container handling capacity can come up only in the south in addition to the west and north-west." http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/06/11/stories/2007061100830600.htm
T. E. Raja Simhan
COLOMBO PORT is facing increasing competition from Indian facilities.
The southern ports of Chennai and Tuticorin are gearing up with plans to become major container transhipment hubs, with Ennore (near Chennai) to join them. Vallarpadam in Kerala is to have an international container transhipment terminal. Colachel in Tamil Nadu is being considered for a container terminal. And Tuticorin plans to have a new outer harbour with major focus on container handling.
Colombo Plans
Against this backdrop, the Colombo port, which is among the top 40 container ports world-wide, is investing over Rs 2,500 crore on a new outer deepwater harbour.
It plans to become a major maritime hub in the region. Colombo, till recently the dominant port in the region, is facing increasing competition from Indian facilities, which are getting more container volumes thanks to the economic growth. Now, Colombo handles around 3 million TEUs against its capacity of 3.7 m TEUs. At the current growth rate, the port will reach full capacity by 2010.
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority, through a funding from the Asian Development Bank, plans to construct a new outer deepwater harbour enclosed by new breakwaters to handle the next generation ships. The project will abut the current Port of Colombo.
The construction of the basic infrastructure will be followed by the building of three terminals in stages. The first terminal will be constructed as public-private enterprise on build-own-transfer basis, according to information available on the SLPA web site.
The proposed Colombo Port Expansion Project will be designed to accommodate vessels with an overall length of 400 metre, beam of 55 metres and draft of 16 metres. Each of the four terminals will have a capacity to handle 2.4 million TEUs per annum.
The Colombo port lies at the centre of the main east-west shipping route, which links the Asia-Pacific region with Europe and North America. Further, the short transit time to India creates an opportunity to access the expanding markets of the Indian subcontinent.
Port of Colombo had established its position as the dominant transhipment port for the Indian subcontinent by the mid-1990s. Its container traffic rose from 0.6 million TEUs in 1990 to 1.7 million TEUs in 1997. However, after 1997, Colombo entered a period of stagnation with traffic remaining at 1.7 million TEU per annum until 2002.
Indian cargo
The expansion at the Colombo port will not affect the Indian facilities, according to experts such as Mr N. K. Raghupathy, Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust. The total container traffic of 5.4 million TEUs in 2006-07 at Indian ports is expected to grow at 12 per cent per annum the next few years.
This will taper off to 9 per cent in 2010 and 7 per cent after 2015. This forecast is based on "export growth predicted by authoritative forecasting bodies" and marginal additional container penetration. India handles 5.4 million TEUs, while China handles over 40 million TEUs. With the Indian economy booming and with no signs of China's growth abating, huge opportunities exist for transhipment of containers in South Asia. Tuticorin aims to reach the status of a regional transhipment hub by 2011-12, says Mr Raghupathy.
"I believe that Colombo, Tuticorin, Chennai, Vallarpadam, Vizhinjam and Colachel will all have their share of the transhipment traffic. The infrastructure creation at Tuticorin, Colachel or Vallarpadam is not only with 2011-12 in mind but also to meet the demand several years ahead."
As per the National Maritime Development Programme of the Centre, India's container throughput will more than triple by 2011-12 from 5.5 million teus in 2006-07.
With 27 container berths (of about 300 m length each) available in the country, huge additional capacity for handling containers needs to be developed in major or non-major ports.
As Mr Raghupathy said: "The question is not whether there will be enough cargo, but whether there will be enough infrastructure to handle the country's cargo. Additional container handling capacity can come up only in the south in addition to the west and north-west." http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/06/11/stories/2007061100830600.htm
Saturday, June 2, 2007
TRAC urges Achuthanandan to expedite city development
Seeks better coordination between various departments
Calls for augmentation of basic facilities prior to development of Vizhinjam container terminal
Says Government soft-pedalling proposal to set up an IT corridor
Thiruvananthapuram: The Trivandrum Residents Apex Council (TRAC) has urged the Government to fast-track the development of the capital city.
In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan here on Friday, TRAC president Amaravila Ramakrishnan Nair and general secretary K.T. Roy called for augmentation of basic facilities prior to the development of an international container terminal at Vizhinjam. The memorandum also stressed the need to complete the construction of mini-fishing harbours at Vizhinjam and Muthalapozhy on a war footing.
The memorandum urged the Government to exert pressure on the district administration to speed up land acquisition for the construction of four air bays and the extension of the runway for the international airport.
It said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government failed to honour its word to set up a High Court Bench in the capital city within six months of assuming power. It observed that the proposal for a CBI Court in the city failed to materialise despite approval from the Union Government and the High Court Registrar.
TRAC accused the Government of soft-pedalling the proposal to set up an IT corridor in the city. It alleged that the Technocity project was also floundering.
The memorandum appealed to the Government to take up the Theerapadham project aimed at cleaning up the Parvathy Puthanar canal and beautifying the area.
It pointed out that the high profile projects for a Biotechnology Park, Handloom Park, telecom city and Fashion Technology Institute also failed to take off. It observed that the proposals to develop tourism facilities at Kovalam, Poovar, Vellayani, Shanghumughom, Veli, Akkulam, Kadhinamkulam, Papanasam, Ponmudi, Aruvikkara and Neyyar Dam were bogged down. The memorandum said there was a move to start work on the construction of inner and outer ring roads for the capital city. It urged the Government to take up the development of the NH47 bypass, Thiruvananthapuram-Parassala four-lane road, Thycode-Kazhakuttam link road and the Ponmudi road.
Department sought
The memorandum called on the Chief Minister to ensure better coordination between various Government departments for the development of the capital city. It proposed the constitution of a separate department headed by a minister for city development.
Calls for augmentation of basic facilities prior to development of Vizhinjam container terminal
Says Government soft-pedalling proposal to set up an IT corridor
Thiruvananthapuram: The Trivandrum Residents Apex Council (TRAC) has urged the Government to fast-track the development of the capital city.
In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan here on Friday, TRAC president Amaravila Ramakrishnan Nair and general secretary K.T. Roy called for augmentation of basic facilities prior to the development of an international container terminal at Vizhinjam. The memorandum also stressed the need to complete the construction of mini-fishing harbours at Vizhinjam and Muthalapozhy on a war footing.
The memorandum urged the Government to exert pressure on the district administration to speed up land acquisition for the construction of four air bays and the extension of the runway for the international airport.
It said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government failed to honour its word to set up a High Court Bench in the capital city within six months of assuming power. It observed that the proposal for a CBI Court in the city failed to materialise despite approval from the Union Government and the High Court Registrar.
TRAC accused the Government of soft-pedalling the proposal to set up an IT corridor in the city. It alleged that the Technocity project was also floundering.
The memorandum appealed to the Government to take up the Theerapadham project aimed at cleaning up the Parvathy Puthanar canal and beautifying the area.
It pointed out that the high profile projects for a Biotechnology Park, Handloom Park, telecom city and Fashion Technology Institute also failed to take off. It observed that the proposals to develop tourism facilities at Kovalam, Poovar, Vellayani, Shanghumughom, Veli, Akkulam, Kadhinamkulam, Papanasam, Ponmudi, Aruvikkara and Neyyar Dam were bogged down. The memorandum said there was a move to start work on the construction of inner and outer ring roads for the capital city. It urged the Government to take up the development of the NH47 bypass, Thiruvananthapuram-Parassala four-lane road, Thycode-Kazhakuttam link road and the Ponmudi road.
Department sought
The memorandum called on the Chief Minister to ensure better coordination between various Government departments for the development of the capital city. It proposed the constitution of a separate department headed by a minister for city development.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
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