{"id":241233,"date":"2015-05-29T11:41:18","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T06:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/?p=241233"},"modified":"2015-05-29T11:41:18","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T06:11:18","slug":"adanis-vizhinjam-seaport-project-doomed-kerala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/adanis-vizhinjam-seaport-project-doomed-kerala\/","title":{"rendered":"A Project Doomed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Unique<\/a>
Unique business model<\/b> Gautam Adani will be investing less and earning more from the project<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nControversy and Gautam Adani are inseparable. Whether it is the loan sanctioned to him by the State Bank of India (SBI) or his equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Adani continues to be in the news. The allegations against the man in question never end. So, it was not surprising when Adani got embroiled in a fresh controversy over a port project in the Kerala capital, Thiruvanathapuram. The opposition led by the CPM\u00a0in the state has levelled serious charges of corruption against the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) for approving the bid of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) for the development of the Vizhinjam international seaport project. This has forced Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to convene an all-party meeting on 3 June to take a final call on accepting the bid of Adani group for the project.
\nThe APSEZ is considered to be the biggest private port operating firm in India. It sought Rs 1,635 crore as grant for the proposed Rs 6,700 crore Vizhinjam project. In the first phase, the Adani group will be investing Rs 4,253.2 crore, including the grant of Rs 817.2 crore from the government. The Centre has already cleared the Viability Gap Funding for the project and through this the group will get around Rs 800 crore. According to the agreed terms, the port will be operated solely by the Adani group, which will invest about 32.6 percent of the total cost of the project, while the state government will plough in 56.5 percent and wait for 60 years to earn profit. Herein lies the irony: although it is supposed to be an Adani project, more than half of the project cost will be borne by the Kerala government. This has led many tongues to wag.
\nThe lone bid submitted by the Adani group and the subsequent nod given by the Kerala government prompted many to question the motive behind the moves. The CPM has alleged foul play in awarding the project to Adani. Attacking the ruling party in Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, former state secretary of the CPM, said that the chief minister (Chandy) had a secret meeting with Adani at the residence of a Congress MP in Delhi. Later on, Congress MP and former Union minister KV Thomas admitted that he along with the CM\u00a0and Fisheries, Ports and Excise Minister K Babu had met Adani. However, sources in the Adani group refused to comment on the matter, insisting that the group will go ahead once the UDF gives the final approval.
\nInitially, five major private companies, including Gammon Infrastructure Projects, the Hyundai-Concast consortium, the SREI\u00a0consortium, Essar Ports, Adani Ports and OHL\u00a0(Spanish firm) had expressed interest in the project. But many of them were denied the bid due to security and other feasibility issues. However, when the deadline, which was extended five times, for submitting the final bid for the project ended on 24 April, the Ahmedabad-based Adani group emerged as the sole bidder.
\nIn fact, the project in question has faced many hurdles since its conception more than two decades ago. It got stalled from time to time due to the issues raised by local people to the central government. When the previous LDF (Left Democratic Front) government tried to finalise the bidding process involving a Chinese company, the then UPA\u00a0government at the Centre refused clearance citing security reasons. The LDF again tried to salvage the project but to no avail. Now, when the Congress-led UDF has approved the bid of APSEZ, the CPM-led opposition has applied the breaks on it yet again.
\n
\n
\"Non-starter<\/a>
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Non-starter<\/b> The future of the Vizhinjam project looks uncertain. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Photo – VV Biju<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nAfter taking into account the global bidding process, procedures followed and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines, an empowered committee headed by Chief Secretary Jiji Thompson decided to recommend the lone bid of Adani to the board of Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), a special purpose vehicle set up to execute the project. With everything falling in place, the Chandy government quickly awarded the project to Adani.
\nMeanwhile, Elias John, Vizhinjam Motherport Action Council (VMAC) president, said that the fresh allegation would only delay the implementation of the port project. \u201cFor the last 24 years, we have been fighting for the cause. Successive state governments have failed to realise the dream of the people. What we need is political will to make the port a reality.\u201d
\nChandy denied allegations of malpractices by saying that the government had nothing to hide and was ready to clarify all issues raised by the opposition. He said it was strange that the CPM was alleging corruption amounting to Rs 6,000 crore for a project that cost Rs 6,700 crore.
\nMeanwhile, the VISL has clarified that adequate measures had been taken to protect the state\u2019s interest in the revenue share, port estate development, maintenance, and dredging. They said that neither the bidder nor the VISL had done anything against the accepted norms while submitting or recommending the bid for the project. The maintenance and dredging would be the responsibility of the port operator. The port operator would be given the licence to build and operate the port for 40 years, and this included the four years for its construction. However, in the earlier version, the port was to be given on a 30-year lease after construction. The Vizhinjam port, once completed, is expected to dock ships with a capacity to handle upto 18,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). The project is supposed to take shape on a spread-over area of about 140 hectares of land.
\nThe project, which got environmental clearance in 2013, requires massive displacements and therefore it is likely to affect the fishing community in particular. The government has fixed a compensation of Rs 90 crore for all those who get affected by the seaport project. The UDF government, which is mired in various controversies, has now entered its final year. Critics within the ruling front allege that the government has nothing to show before the state goes to poll early next year and if the Vizhinjam project takes off after more than two decades of delay, the ruling front can easily cash in on the same in the next election. However, with Adani\u2019s entry, the government would find it very difficult to convince the opposition.
\nadarsh@tehelka.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The proposed Vizhinjam seaport project in Kerala hits another roadblock following the allegation of impropriety in approving the bid of Adani group. Adarsh Onnatt reports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":241235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56],"tags":[6403,6404,1605,4268,466,316,6400,6405,6406],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}