Thiruvanathapuram (Kerala) [India], January 24 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that the state has moved from being 'the land where nothing happens to hosting the world's largest mother ships,' after he inaugurated the Phase 2 expansion of Vizhinjam Port.

In an X post, Vijayan said that the state government has proven its critics wrong.

Adding that the project will be completed in phases by 2028, he said that the development of the port is moving 17 years ahead of schedule.

'Kerala moves forward! Inaugurated the Phase II expansion of @PortOfVizhinjam & the new Port-NH link road today. From being 'the land where nothing happens' to hosting the world's largest mother ships, we've proved the critics wrong. Remarkably, we are set to complete all phases of the port by 2028, a massive 17 years ahead of the original schedule! By then, Vizhinjam will be a fully integrated international hub, connecting Africa, the Middle East, and beyond,' he wrote on X.

Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the development of the second phase of the Vizhinjam International Seaport, calling it the state's 'economic backbone.'

Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Karan Adani, MD of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd, were also present at the ceremony.

Addressing the gathering, CM Vijayan said that Kerala has responded to 'criticism and mockery' by turning such projects into reality and added that Adani Ports has adopted a 'cooperative approach' for the Vizhinjam port.

Located in Vizhinjam, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is developing this deep-sea water port as India's first Mega Transhipment Container Terminal. Vizhinjam Port offers large-scale automation for quick turnaround of vessels with infrastructure to handle Megamax containerships. Its capacity in phase 1 is to be 1 million TEUs, and in subsequent phases, another 6.2 million TEUs will be added.

Today, Karan Adani announced a Rs 16,000 crore investment under Phase 2 and a total commitment of Rs 30,000 crore, with which Vizhinjam will scale to 5.7 million TEUs by 2029.

Meanwhile, the inauguration also triggered a credit war between Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the Vizhinjam International Seaport. Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan, called former Chief Minister and Congress leader Oommen Chandy the 'architect of the port,' while Kerala Finance Minister and CPI(M) leader KN Balagopal said that the port project was conceived during former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan's tenure. (ANI)