THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government will go for a fresh global tender for the Vizhinjam Container Transhipment Terminal, completing the entire process within the next eight months, Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar has said.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he said the proposal now was to bring the project under the Viability Gap Funding Scheme of the Union Government. The project would then receive the Union Government's grant.

Mr. Vijayakumar said the tender proposal would be placed before the Union Government within a fortnight. The project was awarded to a consortium consisting of Chinese companies and an Indian partner early last year. However, the Union Government did not clear the setting up of the harbour with the involvement of the Chinese companies due to security reasons.

Mr. Vijayakumar said a specific clause would be included in the tender notification stipulating that only companies having the Union Government's security clearance could participate in the bidding. Responding to a question, he said the Tamil Nadu Government's proposal to build a harbour at Kolachal, only a few nautical miles away from Vizhinjam, would not in any way undermine the Vizhinjam project's viability and prospects of getting assistance from the Viability Gap Funding Scheme. Even if Kolachal becomes a harbour, Vizhinjam project would have its significance because of its location in relation to the international shipping route and other ideal natural conditions, he added.

Answering another question, he said the Maritime Development Council should have invited either Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan or him to its meeting held in Kochi recently. (The Chief Minister holds charge of the portfolio of Shipping and Inland Navigation.) The State has already conveyed its protest over this to the Centre. Source: The Hindu 08/01/07