Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 1 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Wednesday said Welspun consortium, one of the last two remaining bidders for the proposed Vizhinjam International Container Terminal, has been given the security clearance for the project.

The information was provided to the state government by the ministry of shipping, Chandy said.

“The empowered committee will look into the financial bid of this company as they are the only remaining bidder in the fray. The second company which was there did not get the security clearance,” Chandy told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting here.

The project, to be completed in three phases, has been under consideration of three previous governments and the cost, which was estimated at Rs.5,000 crore five years ago, was revised by the government last week.

The cabinet put the cost of the first phase of the project at Rs.4,010 crore.

The Vizhinjam port is to come up near the famed tourist destination of Kovalam. The proposed site has a natural depth at 24 metres, one of the deepest in the world and hence requires no dredging.

It will be located close to a busy international shipping route and is envisaged to handle 4.1 million containers annually.

The environment impact assessment (EIA) study on the project is under way.