tHe played a crucial role in the history of global marine trade in Vizhinjam in Kerala. The inscription from the Pandya-Chola era (1129 AD) records the Rajendra Chola Pattinam, a port of Kerala. Historians claim that Balita is a very important port of commercial importance Periplus of the Red Seais the old name of Vizhinjam. However, this historical significance disappeared when Indian colonists prioritized ports elsewhere, such as Cochin and Madras.
In the 1940s, the Prince State of Travancore commissioned a study to explore the potential of Vizhinjam to build a world-class port. And now, after nearly eighty years of delays and uncertainty, India's first deep water and container transshipment port in Vizhinjam has been officially unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The port is located in the Thiruvananthapuram district and has been operating in limited quantities since July last year and has been operating commercially in December. The first phase of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project costs Rs 8867 crore, developed by the Kerala government (Rs 5595 crore) and supported by the franchised port (Rs 2454 crore) (the trade union government and the coalition government (provided a fillable dependency gap (VGF) (VGF)), the company provides a duplication of 817.8 CROORE by 817.8 corpear corpearde (VGF).
An important landmark
The port has great significance for India's global maritime trade. Currently, approximately 75% of India's transshipment cargo is processed at ports such as Colombo, Singapore and Crane. The need to have a transshipment hub in India is felt economically and geopolitically. Of all existing Indian ports, Vizhinjam is the closest international transport route, just 10 nautical miles from the global maritime trade route. Many global transport stakeholders have appreciated Vizhinjam's role in the transshipment map, and as a result, the port has processed 600,000 Teus (20-foot equivalent units) with shelves over 280 ships, much higher than the projection at 1.08 lakh teus of 51 evers in 51 sears in 51 sears in 51 prountation in 1.08 lakh teus, which is the 51 ships in March. Many large ships prefer ports with draft depths of over 18 meters and Vizhinjam with natural drafts of 20 meters, which can easily accommodate oversized containers. The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), one of the world's largest shipping companies, includes the port in two of its transport services – Jade Service (connecting Europe and Asia) and Dragons (connecting Asia and the Mediterranean) after preliminary trials. This inclusion will turn more ships toward Vizhinjam.
The port has felt its presence through many milestones. This all-weather port is India's first green space port project. As India’s first semi-automatic port, it also shows off a skilled woman employee operating an automated crane, the first in India. They all received training from the community skills park Vizhinjam, an industry-led PPP program initiated by the Kerala government and run by the Adani Skill Development Center. Last September, MSC Claude Girardet (24,116 Teus) was docked at the port of Vizhinjam, making it the largest cargo ship ever. Earlier, large vessels would use Colombo as a transshipment centre. In October, the docking of MSC Anna witnessed the Vizhinjam port, handling 10,330 containers from a ship, a record for any Indian port. The world's largest container ship, MSC Irina, is expected to dock in Vizhinjam in May this year.
Need a global push
While this is definitely a good start, it is necessary to exploit and surge to get the best economic benefits. This triple engine (state, union and concession) project has the potential to make it a global player.
The Kerala government is actively pushing this prestige project to global stakeholders. It showed the port at the 2025 World Economic Forum, Invest Invest the Port in Kerala Global 2025 and presented the cover page of the Kerala State Budget through a dedicated Vizhinjam Cendave 2025. The state has signed an agreement with Adani Ports to quickly proceed with the remaining phase, which will be completed in 2028 rather than 2045. In March 2025, the Alliance Government granted environmental permissions in phases 2 and 3. The Rs 200,000 crore investment in the remaining phase will upgrade the port's handling capacity from the existing one million TEUs to 4.87 million TEUs and extend the length of the container berth from 1,200 to 2,000 meters.
Challenges and opportunities
However, there are some challenges that need to be addressed urgently. First, the driving force behind the development of relevant infrastructure in a fast-paced model. For example, 40 ships arrived in February, delays should be avoided in the long run. Industry stakeholders like the Container Transportation Lines Association (CSLA) mark the lack of integrated inspection positions (ICP). Applications for inspection positions are currently pending in the Joint Ministry of the Interior; checkpoints are essential to exceed transfer revenues through cargo operations and crew replacement facilities. A long-awaited customs office was opened last month. The Kerala Steamers Association has raised the challenge due to the delay in ICP approval, besides the lack of permanent port health offices, which are a key stakeholder in cargo operations.
The beginning of Vizhinjam's import and export operations may greatly help promote the local economy. The Kerala government has announced a Vizhinjam development zone with a focus on the development of industrial corridors covering nearby areas. IAS officials from the state can be assigned specifically to ignore projects related to the Vizhinjam Economic Growth Corridor. In this year's budget, the Kerala government announced the dedicated space for other states to establish their formal commercial centers near the port. The National Expressway 66 connecting to the port, including the Balaramapuram-port railway line and the 63km Thiruvananthapuram Outer Ring Road (ORR) will determine the future fate of the port.
Efforts should also be made to promote allied enterprises, including ship construction, ship maintenance, crew changes, logistics, warehouses and bunker facilities. There is a great momentum to build shipyards and ship maintenance centers in Poovar (10 km from Vizhinjam port). Adani Ports announced that Vizhinjam Port will also be a global bunkering hub that supplies clean and green fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. Kerala government energy agency Anert is exploring energy projects, including wave capacity and green hydrogen projects near the port.
There is also a synergistic campaign to change the port’s name to Trivandrum International Sea Port Limited, which offers a stronger value proposition from a global brand perspective and is consistent with the “In TRV 01” location code assigned by the General Administration of Systems and Data Management.
Special Economic Zone
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra recently advocated the Shenzhen-like city in India. Shenzhen was once a quiet fishing village, such as Vizhinjam, in the 1970s and became China's first economic zone in 1980. Shenzhen Port, established in 1980, has become a top player in global maritime trade, and has made great contributions to the field of global maritime trade, and has made significant contributions to the transition to China's Silicon Valley. The deep-sea ports of Thiruvananthapuram have great potential to trigger similar economic booms in the region, depending on how various players, including governments, franchisees, businesses and local communities, view these changes and rise to this opportunity. Ideally, the Kerala government should quickly track the Vizhinjam Special Investment Zone (SIR) bill to establish an economic zone that ensures fair compensation and rehabilitation to land owners and residents in the case of land convergence/acquisition.
Perhaps when the bill is proposed in the Kerala legislative Assembly, it should be forwarded to the Select Committee to study various best practices for various port-led economies around the world. On the other hand, the coalition government should reconsider the decision to reconsider another transshipment hub with Vizhinjam 40 km. Probably for the economic viability of large-scale transshipment port projects, we need a policy similar to Greenfield Airport policy to prevent new transshipment ports within 750-1,000 kilometers. In addition, Kerala government and left-wing lawmakers expressed concerns about repayment clauses related to the coalition government's Rs 81.78 crore, which could rise to around Rs 10,000 crore over time, which puts a significant burden on the state's finances. Given the important economic and strategic value of the project, the Alliance Government can reconsider the repayment terms
Although we have prepared a game-changing port, its global success will depend on strategic interventions by decision makers, rapid adoption of the business, and wise decision-making pace.
Arun PS is the founder and research director of Atyeti Research. The opinions expressed are personal
publishing – May 5, 2025 at 08:30 AM IST
