The Deepwater Ports are developed by Adani Ports and Promace Enage Ltd (Apsez), part of India's largest port developer and conglomerate Adani Group.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally commission Vizhinjam International Seaport today to place Kerala firmly on the global maritime map. The ports in Tiruvananapuran district are expected to change India's role in international trade and transportation.
The deepwater port is developed by Adani Ports and Promace Enage Ltd (Apsez), the largest port developer in India and part of the Adani Group.
The project was completed at an estimated cost of Rs 88,67 crore. After successful trial operation, the port obtained its commercial commissioning certificate on December 4 last year.
“Tomorrow is a historic moment for India's Honorary Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji, dedicated Vizhinjam International Seaport to the nation,” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a post about “X” on Thursday. “This landmark project is the largest national investment in the country ever, and two-thirds of the cost borne by the Kerala government, the state's strong commitment to development.
“The commissioning of the port of Vizheim marks the beginning of a new chapter in India’s maritime journey, putting the country firmly on the global map,” Vijayan said.
He said earlier that this is not only the opening of a new port, but the beginning of a new era, which will give India's trade and logistics a stronger global reach.
Vizhinjam is India's first dedicated transshipment port and the country's first semi-automatic port.
It is only 10 nautical miles from the international key transport routes and is naturally deep water, making it ideal for large cargo ships.
So far, the Colombo port in Sri Lanka has processed about 75% of Indian transshipment containers, resulting in huge losses in foreign exchange and income. Vizhinjam is expected to bring most of its traffic back to India.
The port has received the highest investment ever by the Indian state government. The Kerala government is funding two-thirds of the total cost of the project, which includes the full cost of building a breakwater, a key part of the infrastructure that ensures that the port can proceed smoothly in all weather.
Vizhinjam's breakwater is the deepest in India and extends nearly three kilometers. It is 28 meters tall (the height of a nine-story building), which is a major engineering achievement.
The pilot operations began on July 13, 2024 and a comprehensive commercial operation began on December 3, 2024. During the three-month trial phase, the port had more than 550,000 containers.
Vizhinjam is equipped with a fully automated yard crane and remotely operated onboard cranes for faster and safer. It also has India's first homemade ship traffic management system developed by IIT Madras.
The Chief Minister said that with the signing of the feasibility gap funding agreement, all formal steps in the first phase of the project have been completed.
In early 2025, Vizhinjam topped the port list on the southern and western coasts of India for container cargo handling, managing over 100,000 Teus (twenty-one feet equivalent units) per month.
This was a major milestone when the MSC Türkiye at Vizhinjam berth was one of the largest cargo ships ever.
Another major development is Vizhinjam's Jade service, MSC, the world's largest shipping company. This major cargo route connects Europe and Asia through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
Vizhinjam has now become the main hub of South Asia on this route.
MSC includes only large capacity ports in its main services, which makes Vizhinjam's inclusion in the pilot phase a significant achievement. Now, the port joins global giants such as Qingdao, Shanghai, Busan and Singapore.
Vessels in the Emerald Service will sail from Singapore to Vizhinjam and continue to the ports in Spain and Italy. This means that more containers coming to India will arrive directly at Vizhinjam and distributed to other ports using smaller feeding boats.
By 2028, the next phase of construction is expected to be completed, bringing the port's annual production capacity to at least 3 million TEUs. Rs 10 billion will be spent at this stage, which will be fully funded by the Port of Adani.
Vizhinjam has also been developed as a multi-modal hub direct to National Highway 66 and Kerala for the first time to handle future cargo growth. The railway link connecting the port to the national network will soon begin construction.
Vijayan believes that with these developments, Vizhinjam will become a key portal for South Asian trade and a symbol of pride for India's growing maritime strength.
(This story has not been edited by DNA staff and published from PTI).
