The team is expected to complete the study by the end
of March and only on the basis of the report environmental clearance can be
given to Adani Vizhinjam Private Port Limited (AVPPL) to go ahead with the
construction of the second and third phases of the port. “The ministry has already issued the terms of reference (TOR) and the
study is only on the conditions of the TOR. We will get the clearance by August
and in Oct we will be able to start the work on the second and third phases of
the port project,” said an official of AVPPL.
The deadline for finishing the second and third phases
of the project was 2045. However, the state government has asked AVPPL to
complete the construction by 2028. The state had set some other conditions as
well to sign a tripartite agreement to get the Rs 818 crore viability gap
released to the AVPPL from the center.
The Adani firm has agreed to the conditions set for
signing the pact, the official added. One of the conditions was to withhold Rs
219 crore from the equity support deposited by AVPPL. However, Rs 175.2 crore
will be refunded to AVPPL if the project is completed in 2028.
“We have fully agreed with the conditions set by the
state to sign the tripartite agreement. The state government’s decision to
advance the deadline by 17 years is a great move. Why should we wait till 2045
when we are capable of completing the project by 2028? ’’ the official said.
It has been
estimated that the second and third phases would require an investment of Rs
10,000 crore by AVPPL.
“Initially, the deadline of 2045 was fixed in 2014
when the project was in the initial stages. We were able to complete the first
phase of the project faster than expected and it is possible to complete the
second and third phases by 2028,” the official said.
For the second and
third phases, we have to construct an additional 1000m breakwater which is not
a herculean task when we look at the speed at which 3,000km breakwater was
constructed in the first phase. On average, we
were able to complete 750m every year and four years is more than enough to
complete 1,000m if we construct 500m per year, he added.