First Ship Sails To Kerala's Adani Port: How CPM And Congress Are Fighting Over Credit

10/16/2023 4:00:54 AM

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed the first-ever ship at ₹7,700 crore international deep-water port at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The congress attributed credit for the project to late party stalwart Oommen Chandy.
“The scope of development that the port would bring to the state was beyond imagination and the arrival of the first ship shows nothing was impossible for Kerala,” Vijayan said as quoted by PTI.
However, the Congress said it was all possible only due to the initiatives taken by Chandy when he was the chief minister.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state VD Satheesan said that Chandy bravely took the decision to make Vizhinjam port a reality even when he was accused of piracy and selling real estate worth ₹6,000 crore to the Adani group MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor, who was also present at the event, said it was thanks to the initiative taken by Chandy that the“stagnant” project moved forward. Chandy ensured all studies were carried out and all approvals were received from the Centre during his tenure, he added.
In an official statement, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran slammed Vijayan for not commemorating Chandy as was done by State Ports Minister Ahamed Devarkovil, PTI reported.
Sudharakan alleged that Vijayan was unlucky as he was destined to inaugurate projects initiated by the former CM.
On the other hand, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan attributed credit for the project to the Narendra Modi government.“It was an outcome of the good governance of the Modi government.”He said new life was breathed into the port project in 2015 only after the Modi government came to power.
Located near the southernmost tip of the country, the Vizhinjam transshipment container port - the first of its kind in India that was inaugurated on October 15 - will allow India to grab a bigger slice of the international maritime trade currently dominated by China.
It will also bolster its aspirations to be an alternative manufacturing hub by reducing logistics costs for cargo coming to and from the country new terminal is another feather in the cap of Gautam Adani's conglomerate, which faced a scathing short seller attack in January alleging corporate malfeasance - charges the Adani Group has denied.
With a dominance that already spans ports, mines, airports, and power utilities, Vizhinjam will further cement the billionaire's status as India's infrastructure king much-awaited deep-sea port along Kerala's scenic coastline has been developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. in collaboration with the local state government.
Adani Ports, India's largest private sector port operator with a 30 percent market share, is also developing Israel's Haifa port and plans to build a hub in Vietnam, as part of its expanding global footprint.
(With PTI inputs)

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