Thiruvananthapuram, May 2: Within one year, India’s all transshipment cargo will be handled from Vizhinjam International Seaport as this strategic deep-water maritime project is ‘much better equipped, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) managing director Karan Adani said on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday officially commissioned the Vizhinjam International Seaport here which was completed at an estimated cost of Rs 8,867 crore.
Currently, 75 per cent of India’s transshipment cargo is handled at ports outside India and Indian ports lose up to USD 200-220 million of potential revenue each year on transshipment handling of cargo originating/destined for India.
” Vizhinjam International Seaport is much better equipped…Give us a year, you will see all Indian ships getting transshipped from here,” Adani told reporters after the inauguration event. “Our ultimate goal is to reduce logistics cost by 30 per cent by increasing efficiency and reducing turnaround time.”
The Vizhinjam project is intended primarily to bring home the Indian cargo transshipment presently being undertaken at the foreign ports of Singapore, Colombo, Salalah and Dubai.
The project site is the closest and deepest location in India to the international shipping routes.
Middle East – Far East shipping route connecting Europe, Persian Gulf to Far East and International Seuz-Far East Shipping route is only 10 nautical miles away from the international shipping route.
A transshipment port is a kind of transit hub where cargo from one ship is transferred to another ship on the way to its final destination. Mostly transhipment happens to transfer smaller cargoes to bigger mother ships which saves shipment cost and time. Since all the ports in the world are not directly linked, transshipment ports are needed.
Adani said APSEZ is targeting 90 per cent utilisation of the resources.
Responding to a question on the company’s international acquisitions plan , he said South East Asia and East Africa regions are areas of interest for APSEZ.
On the impact on global trade due to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Adani said that any disruption in trade routes definitely impacts shipping lines and the movement of cargo.
” In that way, some of the transhipment points actually benefit from disruptions because shipping lines will have to re-route some of the cargoes. That is from a transhipment perspective.
” I think from a trade perspective, we are seeing that a lot of manufacturing is moving into India and the export boxes increasing from India to the US,” he added.
Adani said some of the transshipment ports benefit from disruption and India is in a way a sweet spot this way.
Responding to a question on India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), he said,” IMEC is a great opportunity to create alternative shipping route.”
Asked whether he is happy with the financials and balance sheet of APSEZ, Adani said,” We have more cashflows than what we can utilise.” Adani also noted that India’s trade growth has to be twice of India’s economic growth.
Asked if he sees any expansion opportunity in India, he said,”We see Vadhavan port project in Maharashtra as an opportunity as and when it happens.
The deep-water port has been developed by APSEZ, India’s largest port developer and part of the Adani Group, under a public-private partnership model at an estimated cost of Rs 8,867 crore. The port received its commercial commissioning certificate on December 4, 2024.
The Vizhinjam port offers large-scale automation for quick turnaround of vessels with state-of-the-art infrastructure to handle Megamax container ships.
Its capacity in Phase 1 is 1 million TEUs, with an additional 4.5 million TEUs to be added in subsequent phases.
APSEZ, a part of globally diversified Adani Group, is the largest port developer and operator in India with 7 strategically located ports and terminals on the west coast and 8 ports and terminals on the east coast. (PTI)
