Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14 (IANS) The Kerala government will float a global tender next year to identify a private partner to build the proposed international port at Vizhinjam, near here, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said Wednesday.
“Before we zero down on the partner, the basic infrastructure which includes rail and road connectivity to the port site would be ready and for that we have set aside Rs.450 crore,” Achuthanandan told reporters here.

State-run Vizhinjam International Sea Port Ltd (VSIL) will start the infrastructure development work next month, he added.

“The basic infrastructure would be ready in 18 months and by that time the private partner also would be identified.”

The Rs.53.48-billion project ran into trouble early this year as the Hyderabad-based Lanco Kondapally, which had won the bid to build the port, pulled out of it because of the “indefinite delay and possible legal tangles”.

The project was conceived to be developed under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme. Built over 150 acres with no displacement of local fishermen, it would be handed over to the state government after 30 years.

With the natural depth at 24 metres, one of the deepest in the world, the port needs no dredging. It will be located close to a busy international shipping route, and handle 4.1 million containers annually.