The town of Vizhinjam in Kerala has played a crucial role in the history of global maritime trade. Inscriptions from the Pandya-Chola era (1129 AD) records Vizhinjam as Rajendra Chola Pattinam, a port of Kerala. Historians claim that Balita, a port with considerable commercial importance which finds mention in the first century AD historical travelogue The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, is Vizhinjam’s old name. However, this historical significance faded away after colonisers of India prioritised ports in other places like Cochin and Madras.
In the 1940s, the princely state of Travancore commissioned a study to explore Vizhinjam’s potential to set up a world-class port. And now, after almost eight decades of delays and uncertainties, India’s first deep water and container transshipment port at Vizhinjam has been officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The port, located in Thiruvananthapuram district, started limited-scale operations from July last year and began commercial operations in December. The first phase of this public private partnership (PPP) project cost ₹8,867 crore and was developed by the State Government of Kerala (₹5,595 crore), with the support of concessionaire Adani Ports (₹2,454 crore) and the Union Government (which provided a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of ₹817.8 crore with repayment conditions).
An important landmark
This port is of immense significance to India’s global maritime trade. Currently, around 75% of India’s transshipment cargo is handled at ports like Colombo, Singapore and Klang. The need to have a transshipment hub in India is being felt both economically and geopolitically. Amongst all existing Indian ports, Vizhinjam is the closest to international shipping routes, strategically located just 10 nautical miles from the global maritime trading route. Many global shipping stakeholders have already appreciated the role of Vizhinjam on the transshipment map, and as a result, the port has already handled 6 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) berthing more than 280 ships, much higher than the projection of one lakh TEUs for 12 months within launch of operations, including 1.08 lakh TEUs from 51 vessels in March this year. Many large ships prefer ports with 18+ metre draft depth and Vizhinjam with a 20-metre natural draft can easily accommodate Ultra Large Container Vessels. The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), one of the largest shipping companies globally, has included the port in two of their shipping services — the jade service (connecting Europe and Asia) and the dragon service (connecting Asia and the Mediterranean) after initial trial runs. This inclusion would direct more ships towards Vizhinjam.
The port has already made its presence felt through a number of milestones. This all-weather port is India’s first greenfield port project. As India’s first semi-automated port, it also flaunts a skilled women workforce operating automated cranes, another first in India. They were all trained at the Community Skill Park Vizhinjam, an industry-led PPP initiative launched by the Kerala government and operated by the Adani Skill Development Centre. In September last year, MSC Claude Girardet (24,116 TEUs) docked in Vizhinjam Port making it the largest cargo ship ever to dock in South Asia. Earlier, large ships would use Colombo as a transshipment hub. In October, MSC Anna’s docking witnessed the Vizhinjam Port handling 10,330 containers from a single ship, a record for any Indian port. MSC Irina, the world’s largest container ship, is expected to dock in Vizhinjam in May this year.
Need for a global push
While it is definitely a great start, there is a need to capitalise and surge ahead to reap maximum economic benefits. This triple engine (State, Union and concessionaire) project has the potential to make it big amongst the global players.
The Kerala government is aggressively pushing this prestige project to stakeholders across the globe. It has showcased the port at the World Economic Forum 2025, the Invest Kerala Global Summit 2025 and through a dedicated Vizhinjam Conclave 2025. The cover page of Kerala’s State budget also featured an image of the Vizhinjam Port highlighting the significance of this project for the State’s economic future. The State has signed an agreement with Adani Ports to fast-track the remaining phases, and it is set to be completed by 2028 instead of 2045. In March 2025, the Union Government granted the environmental clearance for the second and third phases. The ₹20,000 crore investment for the remaining phases will upgrade the port’s handling capacity to 4.87 million TEUs from the existing one million TEUs and extend the length of the container berth from 1,200 metres to 2,000 metres.
Challenges and opportunities
However, there persist some challenges which need to be addressed urgently. Firstly, a push to develop the associated infrastructure in a fast-paced model. For instance, the arrival of 40 ships in February, resulted in delays which should be avoided in the long run. Industry stakeholders like the Container Shipping Lines Association (CSLA) have flagged the absence of an Integrated Check Post (ICP). The application for the check post is currently pending with the Union Home Ministry; the check post is crucial for generating revenue beyond transshipment through cargo operations and crew change facilities. A much-awaited Customs Office at the port was opened last month. The Kerala Steamer Agents Association had flagged the challenges owing to a delay in ICP approval in addition to the absence of a permanent Port Health Office, an important stakeholder for cargo operations.
The start of import-export operations at Vizhinjam could significantly help boost the local economy. The Kerala government had announced a Vizhinjam Development Zone with a focus on developing an industrial corridor covering the nearby regions. An IAS officer from the State could be allocated exclusively for overlooking the projects associated with the Vizhinjam Economic Growth corridor. In this year’s budget, the Kerala government announced a dedicated space for other States to establish their official business centres near the port. The pace of completion of multiple projects including the National Highway 66 which connects to the port, the railway line connecting Balaramapuram to the port and the 63 km Thiruvananthapuram Outer Ring Road (ORR), would decide the fate of the future of the port.
There should also be efforts to promote allied businesses including ship building, ship repair, crew change facilities, logistics, warehousing and bunkering facilities. There is significant momentum for building a shipyard and ship repair centre in Poovar (10 kms from the Vizhinjam port). Adani Ports has announced that Vizhinjam Port will also be a global bunkering hub, supplying clean and green fuel like hydrogen and ammonia. The Kerala government’s energy agency ANERT is exploring energy projects including wave power and green hydrogen projects near the port.
There is also a concerted campaign to change the name of the port to Trivandrum International Sea Port Limited, which offers a stronger value proposition from a global branding perspective and consistent with the ‘IN TRV 01’ location code allocated by the Directorate General of Systems and Data Management.
Special economic zone
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra recently advocated for a Shenzhen equivalent city in India. Shenzhen used to be a quiet fishing village, like Vizhinjam, in the 1970s and became China’s first Special Economic Zone in 1980. The Port of Shenzhen, established in 1980 has emerged as a top player in global maritime trade and contributed significantly in the transition of the city as the Silicon Valley of China. There is great potential for the deep sea port in Thiruvananthapuram to trigger a similar economic boom in the region, depending exclusively on how various actors including governments, the concessionaire, businesses, and local communities perceive these changes and rise to the occasion. The Kerala government should ideally fast-track the Vizhinjam Special Investment Region (SIR) Bill to create an economic zone, ensuring fair compensation and rehabilitation to the landowners and dwellers in cases of land pooling/acquisition.
Maybe when the Bill is introduced in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, it should be referred to a select committee to study various best practices across the globe in port-led economies including Shenzhen. On the other hand, the Union government should reconsider the decision to have another transshipment hub 40 km away from Vizhinjam in Colachel. Probably, in the interests of the economic viability of large-scale transshipment port projects, we need a policy similar to the greenfield airport policy that prevents new transshipment ports within 750-1,000 kms. Additionally, the Kerala government and legislators across the Left and Congress parties have expressed concerns regarding the repayment terms associated with the Union government’s ₹817.8 crore VGF which could potentially escalate to approximately ₹10,000 crore over time, imposing a significant burden on the State’s finances. In light of the project’s critical economic and strategic value, the Union government could reconsider the repayment clause
While we have a game-changing port ready, its global success will depend on strategic interventions by policymakers, swift adoption by businesses, and the pace of informed decision-making.
Arun P.S. is Founder and Research Director, Atyeti Research. The views expressed are personal
Published – May 05, 2025 08:30 am IST
