Following the opening of Vizhinjam International Seaport, the state government has been working to connect and upgrade the state’s waterways and smaller ports, such as Kollam, so that cargo may be moved from the port.
Cargo arriving in containers from overseas will be packed and transported to the smaller ports by road, rail, and sea after the logistics park at the port of Vizhinjam is established. Every possibility for connecting to the state’s interior is being investigated.
In the upcoming months, the government plans to upgrade 17 ports, including Ponnanni and Kollam. The Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways has received a proposal from the Kerala Maritime Board for partial funding under the central government’s Sagarmala program to construct a multipurpose berth (MPB) at Ponnani at a total cost of Rs 20 crore.
According to a statement from the Union government, the Keralan government has announced that it is investigating the possibility of developing the Ponnani port using a PPP (public-private partnership) model, given the significance of regional connections, the potential for cruise tourism, and economic growth.
In order to start cruise shipping, which will connect numerous non-major ports as well as ports of neighboring states, they have invited private service providers to submit expressions of interest (EoI).
The government is looking into every possibility to make sure that cargo can be transported from Vizhinjam to other ports by rail, road, or sea, according to ports minister VN Vasavan. He stated that in order to develop the ports, the Sagarmala program’s funding or PPP model would be investigated.
The state government is also exploring ways to upgrade the waterways from Thiruvananthapuram to the northern regions of the state so that, in addition to rail and road, the repackaged cargo from the logistics park at Vizhinjam can be transported by water to other regions of the state.
The government wants to promote cruise tourism at other ports because of the anticipated large number of container ships arriving in Vizhinjam.