Hyderabad, May 14 The Hyderabad-based infrastructure and power development company, Lanco Infratech Ltd, has secured a mandate from the Kerala Government to develop a Rs 8,000-crore ($2 billion) Vizhinjam container transhipment port project, about 16 km from Thiruvananthapuram.

The competitive bids for the project were opened on Wednesday wherein the Lanco consortium bid was chosen L1; the others in the fray were NCC-Maytas and Videocon-Gammon etc.

The phase one of the Rs 8,000-crore project envisages investment of Rs 2,400 crore over 60 months.

The special purpose vehicle will include the Kerala Government with equity of 24 per cent, according to the Lanco Infratech Director, Mr Sanjai Divaker Joshi, .

Speaking to Business Line over phone, Mr Joshi said that this project would have a 33-year concessionaire and the Kerala Government has assured necessary support, including related infrastructure, road and rail links.

“The project has a natural draft and we are envisaging a capacity of 6.5 million TEU (20- foot equivalent unit). We have partnered with the Malaysia company, Pembinan Razdai Sdn. Bhd, which has developed the West Port.

The entire project will be covered in four phases,” he said.

When developed, the port is expected to attract a fair share of the container transhipment traffic meant for India, currently handled by international ports at Colombo, Malaysia, Al-Salah and Singapore, he said.

The project was conceived as it is expected to benefit

Indian companies engaged in export and imports as it would save substantial time and costs and other transhipment risks associated in the business, he said.

Source:The Hindu Business Line