400 crore loan from Kerala Finance Corporation for Vizhinjam port

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Ports Department is borrowing an additional amount of Rs 400 crore from the Kerala Finance Corporation (KFC) for Vizhinjam project. 100 crore loan was taken already on March 31. KFC has been approached as the HUDCO loan is delayed.

The last cabinet meeting had given permission to borrow Rs 3,600 crore from HUDCO under government guarantee but the board of directors of HUDCO has to meet twice to sanction the loan. This will have a delay of 70 days. Before that, the land for the development of Vizhinjam Junction has to be acquired and an advance payment has to be made to the Railways for the construction of the railway line. 400 crores loan is taken from KFC for this purpose.

Adani's remaining money

According to the contract, the government has to pay Rs 347 crore to the Adani Group as the first installment of the breakwater construction. Of this, 100 crores has been paid, but the Adani Group has demanded that the remaining amount must be transferred immediately. However, the government is prioritizing land acquisition for now. There is also a plan to transfer the balance of the loan amount from KFC to the Adani Group.

Concrete road coming soon

Construction of a concrete road over the breakwater at the port will begin soon. A few meters of concreting have been done as a sample. Once the concreting is completed, it will become a wide road. At present, the breakwater construction is targeted at 2200 meters and the construction will resume if the weather is favorable. When concreting is completed, it will be about 5 meters above sea level. The length of the breakwater is 2026 meters visible on the sea surface and 2300 meters under the sea. It is constructed by depositing gravel by using lorries on land and by barges at sea. Work is also progressing to install acro pods made of concrete in a special manner on the sea-facing side to strengthen the breakwater.