Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 24 (ANI): Recognising the immense potential of Vizhinjam International Seaport in global maritime trade, it was decided to fast-track the development process. As a result, capacity augmentation under Phase 2 is now expected to be completed within three years, said Divya S. Iyer, Managing Director of Vizhinjam International Seaport.

Work on Phase 2 of the Vizhinjam Port in Kerala has been kicked off today, with an additional investment of about Rs 16,000 crore.

'Initially, as per the agreement, we had envisaged that Phase two, three, four progress of the port would be completed by 2045. But last year, in 2024, the government entered into a supplementary agreement with the concessionaire, sensing the immense potential of the services that Vizhinjam International Seaport can offer to the world and also the opportunities in Maritime time trade right now,' Iyer told ANI.

'We decided to fast track the development process and now we have an on block complete capacity augmentation that's envisaged for three years,' she said.

By 2028 December, the Phase 2 is expected to be completed and the port's functional capacity would be enhanced by over five times, she said.

In the months, since its inauguration last year, the port has 'welcomed every large ship in the world into our own port and offered services which have been highly satisfactory,' she said.

'So, we decided that we should take the plunge and aim higher and aim farther. So from 1 million TEUs per year, now we are aiming at over 5.5 million TEUs by the end of 2028,' she added.

These investments are 'definitely going to be a game changer for the economic investment climate in the state of Kerala,' she further said. 'We hope to attract many more investors in the industrialisation process in port-led industrialisation in Vizhinjam.' (ANI)