Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commission Vizhinjam International Seaport on May 2. The Prime Minister’s office has informed the state government and the port authorities in an official communique. 

Kerala Ports Minister V N Vasavan in an official statement said that the Prime Minister's Office had informed him that the dedication ceremony of the port will be held at 11 am on May 2 by the PM.

“With the dedication of the port to the nation, Kerala will reach the forefront of the world's maritime trade sector. Vizhinjam is the first semi-automated port in South Asia and is rapidly growing as India's commercial gateway,” said the minister.

"So far, 263 ships have arrived at the port. Vizhinjam has progressed while surprising the world by handling 5.36 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo in the short period from the commencement of its commercial operations," he added.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the trial run of the port on July 12, 2024. Following this, the port started its commercial operations on December 3, 2024.

The formal inauguration was delayed as the state government was awaiting a response from the Prime Minister’s Office. Following the trial run, the state government had announced that the commissioning would take place once the Prime Minister finalised the date. On April 9 this year, the port welcomed the world’s largest eco-friendly container ship, MSC Turkiye. In March, the Union Environment Ministry had given environment clearance for the construction of the next two phases of the port.  

Vasavan also said that the port topped the list in cargo movements at ports on the south and west coasts of India in February and March 2025 and also achieved the feat of handling 1 lakh TEUs per month.

With the signing of the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) agreement, all the procedures in the first phase of Vizhinjam port have been completed, he said.

The Union government, a bank consortium and Adani Ports Pvt Ltd, which manages the Vizhinjam deep-sea port, earlier this month inked a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for providing VGF of Rs 817.80 crore to the project.

"The construction work was completed at a rapid pace and the port achieved proud milestones after the arbitration proceedings were avoided and a new agreement was reached. The agreement has been reached in a way that the government will get more revenue than what was available under the previous arrangement. Accordingly, the government will get a share of the revenue from the port from 2034 itself," the minister said.

He said that the construction of all the phases of the port will be completed by 2028. Adani Vizhinjam Port will pay the state government a share of the revenue generated when all four phases are operational from 2034, he added.

When the construction is completed by 2028, the minimum installed capacity of the port will be 30 lakh TEUs per year and this will be achieved at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore which will be borne entirely by Adani Ports, pointed out the minister.

He expressed hope that once road and rail connectivity with the port was completed and freight traffic became smooth, the Vizhinjam transshipment hub will open up huge development opportunities for Kerala.

Vizhinjam will be able to handle a large part of the country's freight traffic and as it reaches its full capacity, due to the state government's interventions, it will result in large-scale commercial and industrial growth in Kerala, he added.

According to the minister the Kerala government aims to utilise the benefits of the port in the Thiruvananthapuram district by implementing the Outer Area Growth Corridor, Outer Ring Road, Vizhinjam-Kollam-Punalur Growth Triangle, etc. on a war footing and has already given preliminary approvals for the same.

"This is a massive project that will change the face of Thiruvananthapuram with the establishment of various industrial and commercial establishments in a 2.5 km area on both sides of these roads. As these activities progress, it is expected that many logistics parks and industrial plants will come up in other districts southwards from Ernakulam," he said in his statement.

He also said that steps were being taken to move goods from other ports to Vizhinjam, by considering it as a centralised port.

Developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India's largest port developer and part of the Adani Group, the port was constructed under a public-private partnership model at an estimated cost of Rs 8,867 crore.