Vizhinjam International Seaport will be dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 11 a.m. Kerala Port Minister V.N. Vasavan described the occasion as a “golden moment” for the state’s Pinarayi Vijayan government, which is commemorating its fourth anniversary. He claimed the official port handover would propel Kerala to the forefront of the global maritime economy.
With the signing of the viability gap funding (VGF) agreement with the Centre, all the procedures related to the first phase construction of the Vizhinjam Port have been completed. The formal commissioning of the port will be attended by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Ministers of State George Kurien and Suresh Gopi, State Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition and others.
The initial cost of Rs 8,867 crore spent for the port project, the State government’s contribution is Rs 5,595 crore (63%), while Adani Group, concessionaire of the project, spends Rs 2,454 crore (28%). Also, Rs 818 crore (9%) is granted by the Centre as VGF loan. The Rs 1,350 crore spent on constructing the breakwater was borne by the State government alone. In addition, Rs 1,482.92 crore will have to be spent by the State to establish rail connectivity to the port.
Terming the Centre’s decision to grant the VGF share as a loan a disregard to Kerala, Vasavan said the Centre’s insistence that the State should repay this VGF amount based on the net present value (NPV) will bleed the exchequer, as it will have to repay approximately Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 crore to the Centre over a certain period. On the other hand, there were no such conditions when the VGF amount of Rs 1,411 crore was granted for the Outer Harbour project of the Thoothukudi Port, he said.
When the Vizhinjam port, which is fully ready for commissioning, becomes operational in full swing, a large portion of the revenue from the port will go to the Central government, he said. The Centre gets 60 paise out of every rupee collected as customs duty, whereas the State is likely to get one to three paise. Even at a rough estimate, Vizhinjam will net an annual revenue of ₹10,000 crore through customs duty. Accordingly, the Centre is likely to get an additional revenue of Rs 6,000 crore annually, said Vasavan.
As the next phase is completed by 2028, the minimum installed capacity of the port will be 3 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per annum. The Adani Port will invest an estimated amount of Rs 9,500 crore in the subsequent phases. Even before the commissioning, ships started calling at the port when the trial operations began on July 11, 2024, and commercial operations began on December 3, 2024. So far, 285 ships have berthed at the port, and the port has amazed the world by handling a whopping 5,93,000 TEUs in such a short span of time. It has achieved 110% utilisation of its installed capacity during this period. The Vizhinjam Port also ranked first in cargo movements at ports on the south and west coasts of India in February and March 2025 by achieving the feat of handling 1 lakh TEUs a month.
In addition, MSC Türkiye, billed as the largest ship to ever arrive in India, berthed smoothly in Vizhinjam during this period. MSC’s weekly service to Europe, titled Jade Service, also started from Vizhinjam. With the formal commissioning, Vizhinjam will grow to a level that can compete with any major port in the world, a proud moment for Kerala, said Vasavan, adding that the State government has received Rs 45 crore in GST from the port’s operations to date.
