Adani meets CM, expresses interest in Vizhinjam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Adani Group has shown interest in investing in partnering Kerala for constructing the Vizhinjam multi-purpose seaport project.

 A four-member delegation led by Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Saturday told Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan that the group was interested in taking up port and power projects here. The port projects the group is interested in include the Vizhinjam multi-purpose seaport project as well as the Azheekal port. The delegation met the Chief Minister at his residence, Cliff House, on Saturday morning. Later, Gautam Adani told reporters that his group was interested in investing in taking up the multi-crore Vizhinjam project. The Chief Minister, he said, had responded positively to the visit.

 Founded in 1988, the Adani Group today has a big presence in various sectors, including port, energy/power and special economic zones. The Mundra Port and SEZ in Gujarat was developed by the group. At the national level, the group was planning to set up power projects with a total capacity of 20,000 megawatts by 2020. Adani officials had met Ports Secretary and CEO of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL) Sanjeev Kaushik in August in connection with the project.

 Thirty companies had shown interest in the Vizhinjam project when the VISL had invited an Expression of Interest. If things go as planned, the State Government will float global tenders for the project for identifying a private partner for the project this year-end itself.

trivandrum@expressbuzz.com