Indian port developer and operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will invest INR160 billion (US$1.7 billion) to facilitate the start of the second phase of the planned expansion of Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala.
The works will entail increasing the existing container vessel berthing space from 800 metres to 2,000 metres and expanding the port's breakwater from to 3,900 metres from its current length of 3,000 metres.
Additional works to be undertaken will include dredging and reclamation, construction of an automated rail yard, and the installation of new rail-mounted gantry cranes and automated ship-to-shore cranes.
The phase two expansion formally began with an inauguration ceremony on Saturday, January 24.
APSEZ expects the works to be completed in 2028, by which time the port's capacity of one million TEUs will have increased nearly six-fold to 5.7 million TEUs. The company said this would position the port among the top global transshipment hubs as as the largest facility of its in the Indian sub-continent.
The total amount to be invested in the expansion of port infrastructure at Vizhinjam including works under the first phase will be INR300 billion (US$3.3 billion).