- 6 weeks ago
Experts said that Vizhinjam port’s location near the East-West Global Maritime Highway gives it a major advantage.
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00:00Good afternoon everyone. So we have a stellar lineup of speakers for this particular session
00:07but to set the tone for this very very important session especially from Kerala's point of view
00:17is Mr. Lakshman Rathakrishan. He's a former chairman of JNPT and former MD and CEO of
00:26Malabar International Port and SEC. He's got over 20 years of experience in the port sector and I think
00:35it will be good if we can set the tone for this session with this opening remarks. Mr. Rathakrishan, sir,
00:41please.
00:58Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you Mr. Arun for the introduction. I'll straightway
01:07jump into the topic which is basically winning back the cargo, the big transshipment bet.
01:14So we all know what we are talking about now. It's particularly about Viriniam. So why is
01:21Viriniam India's strategic bet on transshipment? So India was transshipping roughly 75% of its
01:29container traffic through foreign ports, mainly Colombo, Singapore, Dubai, Jabalali and Salala
01:36and Port Clang for example because no Indian port had the depth to birth today's mega container ships.
01:44Now Viriniam sits close to the international east-west shipping corridor near the tip of the peninsula
01:50so the vessels don't need to detour far from their route to call there. Its natural draft is around
01:5820 meters plus and it has almost three kilometer breakwater and now I think 800 meter birth which is
02:06going to be extended which is under expansion and it has eight key cranes, 24 fully automated yard
02:13cranes and can handle ultra-large container vessels that most Indian ports can't handle right now.
02:20So every container rooted through Colombo, Singapore or any other port outside India costs time,
02:27foreign exchange and we lose strategic, we have strategic dependence on these countries, you know.
02:33So Viriniam is meant to claw back that traffic and the associated jobs, revenue and it's meant to
02:42better our logistics ecosystem onto Indian soil.
02:47Now what are the advantages and strategic impact of this port?
02:52I would say that per container you save about, if you are exporting or importing containers,
03:00you save about $80 to $100 per container which is substantial.
03:04And you know transit delay also is saved quite a lot. From two to seven days of delay will be
03:12there if
03:13you use some other hub. This can be saved. And vessel handling, you know, normally it is handled in
03:21multiple ports and here you are the direct control because it's not vulnerable to foreign geopolitical
03:27economic shifts and so supply chain strategy control is there if it is located within India.
03:34So roughly I have calculated that about $200 to $220 million in foreign exchange can be saved
03:43if we use Viriniam in lieu of the foreign ports. And the total port related logistic cost reduction
03:49will be around 30% for ships. And ships also save about $50 to $70 per container in fuel charges
03:57alone.
03:57And it reduces transit time as I said earlier. And modern automated domestic terminals lower container dwell times to 24
04:07hours instead of 48 to 72 hours which is the global average.
04:11So we are far ahead in terms of that. So I have had the unusual opportunity to view this challenge
04:18from several perspectives as Secretary of Ports Government of India and the first MD and CEO of
04:23Viriniam International Seaport. When I had initiated the state's maritime policy strategic ambitions and
04:29also did the first bidding for the PPP bidding for Viriniam. Thereafter as chairman and CEO of
04:36Jawahlan Haru Port, Navi Mumbai, the biggest Indian container port, we addressed the requirements of the national container gateway,
04:44like channel deepening from 9 to 14 meters, doubling almost the capacity of the port. And particularly,
04:52a very big development was JN port's 27 million TU Wadhwan port venture which I could initiate with the Maharashtra
05:02Maritime Board,
05:03owning 26% and JNPT owning 74%. This was estimated at that time to cost about 65,000 crores. Now
05:13it is estimated to cost about 85,000 crores.
05:16And it has been started formally since 2024. I've also worked as MD of Malabar International Port and we
05:25created a DPR of around rupees 6,500 crores for the port itself and 3,000 crores for the
05:33special economic zones and after environment and cargo studies and designed the NH extension which is
05:39going to be built free of cost by the NHAI. And we've got 145 acres from the sea, reclaimed from
05:47the sea. And also
05:49got position of 500 acres and 500 more acres expected any time for the SEZs. So
05:58Viriniam, coming back to Viriniam,
06:00we have to move from transshipment hub to Exim gateway.
06:05Since the start of Viriniam, it was only a transshipment hub. Since August 2026, we have started
06:11functioning also for as gateway cargo. This was enabled by the approvals given by CBDT and
06:19also by the Government of India. So we have issues there because we need particularly container freight
06:29stations. We don't have one there. So at present, we have to have we can handle only full containers.
06:35To just give you an instance, when I was chairman of Jawala Anwaru Port, we had 33 CFS, you know,
06:42to handle. We were handling more than half the entire country's
06:46container traffic. So we need urgently to set up container freight stations, maybe half a dozen at least
06:53around the Viriniam. Otherwise, we are going to have a very efficient port, but no
06:59logistics connectivity to it. And Viriniam contribution so far has been very impressive.
07:04It has handled 2 million TUs in 18 months and received one of the world's largest container ships.
07:10It's a fast ramp up by a global port, global new port, I would say. It handled 1 million TUs
07:18in just
07:18nine months after starting, including the largest vessel. So we have proved that India can be in a
07:24reliable port. So every you see, you will see the call, that means the ultra large container vessel
07:31call to Viriniam, instead of Colombo, Singapore reduces the hub premium of 80 to 100 dollars per
07:37container that India saves. And Kerala should capitalize on this as Gujarat has done with Mundra and Maharashtra
07:46with JNPT. Mundra and JNPT just didn't move containers. They anchored industrial corridors,
07:52SEZs, warehousing clusters and ancillary manufacturing around the port, turning port traffic into state
07:59level economic engine. Kerala, a remittance and services driven economy with a thin industrial
08:07export base, needs a deep water gateway port, but also to position it as a gateway,
08:13by providing the industrial clusters and also having a relationship with the other two ports
08:22in Kerala, the existing Kochi port, also the new port which is envisaged for Malabar.
08:27If Viriniam is a pass-through transshipment box mover only without manufacturing or export capacity
08:34around it, after spending huge amounts from the exchequer as grants, it will not get the industrial
08:40dividend like Gujarat and Maharashtra. So this is something we need to look into.
08:43So the connectivity bottleneck of why multimodal georgistic parks matter is that a port's throughput
08:51is carried by how fast cargo can be moved inland without rail, high capacity for containers,
08:59they'll be piled up at one end. So high-speed global shipping targets will face
09:06landslide logistic constraints with the delayed highways and other infrastructure where we are
09:11lagging behind. So what distinguishes Viriniam is that Colombo and Singapore being our mature
09:19transshipment ports, and Viriniam slowly taking on the competition, and Viriniam already handled one of the
09:26biggest vessels in the world, MSC Loreto, with 17,262 containers. And the biggest, costliest ships go
09:35only to the ports they trust for depth, turnaround speed, and automation. Such repeated ULCV calls at
09:42Viriniam make it a credibility marker built into the permanent network for global carriers.
09:46I would say that, you know, moving on to the port itself, it's not merely an infrastructure project.
09:56It is a network and significant catalyst for economic development, as can be seen from the history of
10:02port cities around the world. So I'll leave it at that. And we have this extraordinary opportunity
10:09of using this new deep water port, which is a transshipment port, to use it also as a gateway port,
10:17to ensure the development of the blue economy of Kerala as well as India. Thank you very much.
10:33Thank you so much, Mr. Rathagrish. You have touched upon a variety of points that we could discuss
10:37further. And we have this great lineup of speakers. We have Mr. Srikumar K. Nair, CEO of Viriniam
10:44International Seaport, a veteran in the field. And we have also Mr. Rakhul Chandran Nair, who is the
10:52president of the Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce, who will also enlighten us as to how the industry
10:59is benefiting from the port.
11:18So, Mr. Srikumar Nair, I think I'll come to you because Mr. Rathagrishan has given a very vivid
11:26backgrounder to Viriniam and showed the potential and as well as some of the challenges.
11:31You are a man who is right at the center of action. And it's been a year after, you know,
11:38we have seen cargo operations start at Viriniam. So how do you rate the first year of achievement?
11:47And just to add to whatever Mr. Radhakrishan said, what do you think are the unique ways
11:52in which, you know, Viriniam sets itself apart from some of the neighboring competitors like,
11:58you know, in Colombo, for instance?
12:01Yeah. Thank you for this opportunity, Arun. See, normally I start my presentations or my,
12:07what I call as my sales pitch with the statement that on the 3rd of December 2024, it's a figurative
12:15statement, the gateway of India has shifted 1,600 kilometers south from Mumbai to Trivandrum.
12:21Now, it's no exaggeration. Today, Viriniam, located just south of Trivandrum, is literally
12:27India's gateway to the world. Now, this, sir, has already touched upon it very briefly.
12:34There are two USPs which makes this possible. One is, as he said, it's, as I would put it as
12:42God's gift to Kerala, the natural draft right at the shoreline in the coastal stretch south of
12:50Trivandrum, where we have a draft of almost about 20 meters right on the shore, which makes it possible
12:56for the largest of vessels sailing across the high seas to come and berth in Viriniam. That's point
13:02number one. The second point is, you know, what we call as the east-west global maritime highway.
13:10You know, that just passes about 10 nautical miles away from Viriniam. And that makes it possible,
13:19you know, when you're located just adjacent to a global highway, you know, you can imagine the
13:24possibilities. So, as sir has already mentioned, you know, seeing an ultra-large container vessel in
13:31any Indian port is a very rare event, which has to be showcased to the world, yes, this has come
13:37in.
13:38Now, Viriniam, today, it's a kind of a walk in the park. Last month itself, you know,
13:43Viriniam has received almost about seven or eight ultra-large vessels, thanks to its proximity to the
13:49global highway, the maritime highway, and also due to the natural draft at the shoreline. So this
13:56opens up enormous opportunities for us, not just for, I would put it like this,
14:01Viriniam is not just a port for a nearby hinterland, it's not just a port for the entire country,
14:08it's rather a port for all the Indian Ocean Rim countries. So that is the advantage that
14:13Viriniam brings on the table today.
14:15Okay, great. Now we will have a perspective from the industry side. Mr. Raghushchandran,
14:20how do you see, being the president of the Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce, how the chambers
14:25see whatever, you know, the kind of development activity that has happened, and how can the industry
14:34use, utilize the port at its full potential?
14:39Thank you, Arun. I think here we have to remember that this port would have become a reality in 1940s,
14:48when the port was thought about by Sir Sipirama Samir. It took so many years later for us to really,
14:55even Jebel Ali was not even thought about, and that's a time when we thought about a port of a
15:00similar nature. Now, it's a golden opportunity which has come to us. You have a port which is
15:08like a golden goose, can lay the golden eggs, but you need to have the ecosystems for this.
15:14This is where we, we are always, we face a challenge. As you, all of us say that we all,
15:22all of us are proud that the port, in a year's time, we create a record that we cross the
15:29targeted
15:33capacity. And we have almost all the ultra-large vessels calling on the port, almost 100 numbers
15:39have called on the port, which is definitely something which is, we should be really proud
15:44about. But here, the local people, as an industry, we look at it. See, you, what is the thing, the
15:50port is
15:51really modern. It's ultra-modern. It's even much more modern than what you have in Colombo,
15:55even Singapore and Dubai. It's almost similar to Notre Dame. And we are definitely technologically
16:00superior. But the locals have to know, and the business community locally must have to feel the
16:07impact about it. So we always have a head start. So I'm only fearing one point. You see, Kerala, we
16:13were
16:13the top, we were the first people to come up with colour televisions, computers, and all these things
16:19during the 1980s. And we lost out in the race. Same thing happened to the case of the IT industry,
16:27information technology. We were the first to think about IT Park in 90s, in the early 90s. And we lost
16:33out. This, we should not repeat this process. We should not miss the bus. And this is why we are
16:39worried about. Because we fear that we talked about this port, and we have been talking, this port was
16:45delayed. But it took 10 years for the port to come to commission stage, and up to the point of
16:50reality
16:50with Exim cargo coming in. But what is lacking here? The infrastructure is not caught up. This is
16:56what I'm worried about. The roads, the connectivity, the rail connectivity, all this is yet to really,
17:03if the port has to come up with the full potential, both these things have to really have to be
17:09on par with
17:09the development of the port. So here, when you don't have that particular facility, you find that
17:16these industries do not really get to really, because you don't have, you have ships coming,
17:20but you don't really have the potential being tapped. Now, we have another point is that, as you know,
17:27Kerala is a, we have a land-staffed state. The land is very expensive. And when we, when the land
17:33prices were only 25,000 rupees a cent, today has been touching 15 lakhs per cent. So for any company
17:39to
17:39come and invest into the port to buy land is next to impossible. Why buying 10 acres of land is
17:4550,
17:45150 crores? It is not that easy. So what is happening, the potential is being tapped by the
17:51nearby state, Tamil Nadu. They have gone and started acquiring land. So I think here the government of
17:57Kerala should see this potential and probably start doing land pooling and collect land about
18:031,000, 1,500 acres, so that more and more industries will come in. When industries come in,
18:08you generate jobs, it brings in revenue, and it is definitely going to be a thing. This is where
18:13it's a worrying scenario. This is something which we definitely are. Yeah, that's an excellent point.
18:17Thank you. And let me come to Mr. Radhakrishnan. You know, you mentioned, again, taking further
18:24what Mr. Raghu Chandran was talking about. The fact that, you know, the port needs a lot of logistical
18:31connectivity to make it a world-class port. I mean, we have made a beginning, but to take it further,
18:38from your experience, you know, with JNPT and others, what are the, say, a few things that need
18:43to be taken on an urgent basis, or maybe things that could be taken over the longer term to make
18:50the port into that world-class status? Yeah, I'll start with what Mr. Raghu Chandran Nair has mentioned,
18:58which is land. 1,880 acres of land was acquired, being acquired, and it reached more than halfway
19:07with the acquisition process way back when the initial bid for the region was issued. But unfortunately,
19:15because of some local pressure, the government at that time had dropped the acquisition, and now
19:21that land is costing about, I think, 100 times more, and it's not available also, and people would go
19:27to court for it. Unless you have a logistics park there, unless you have value addition in terms of
19:33industry, there is no point in having a port. So it will be a national asset, nevertheless, because it can
19:40save a lot of foreign exchange in terms of transshipment costs. But we will not develop the state,
19:45which is mainly financing it. We are spending something like 70 percent of the cost, state
19:50government fully, I would say, because what is given by the central government as a grant was given as
19:56a loan. So we are spending 70 percent of the private sector partners, spending only 30 percent. And so the
20:03state should have sufficient land for expansion of its industries, port-dependent industries. Secondly,
20:11the road and rail connectivity must be in place, particularly the road connectivity. One of the
20:16issues in Vietnam was that the road connectivity was not finalized. So there has been some glitches.
20:21But most of the time we find that projects are delayed. It's not that just in Kerala it's delayed.
20:27For example, Wadhwan, which was proposed by me way back in 2013, actually was approved by the central
20:35government only in 2020 and 2024. Only the foundation stored was laid by the honorable prime minister.
20:42So it happens everywhere in governmental projects. We need to reduce that gap between concept and
20:47implementation. Great. Mr. Nair wanted to ask you, at this point, when we have really talked about the
20:57fact that, you know, we can win back the transshipment cargo from Colombo and Singapore. How much are we
21:05in course of doing that, you know, from your one year of experience? And number two is the next phase,
21:12again, in the phase two, the expansion plans, etc. You know, how does it pan out for the Kerala's economy
21:18and also the kind of jobs that it has the potential to create? See, while I fully agree with my
21:23two fellow
21:24panelists, I would look at it from a more optimistic point of view. I would say that, you know, the
21:31glass
21:31is half full. Now it's only a question of topping it up. See, Birinyam today is the only Indian port,
21:40I repeat, the only Indian port which is globally connected to more than 100 plus ports spread over
21:46some 50 countries in practically all continents. Now, I, if I go a flashback to 30 years ago, I was
21:54an
21:54exporter from Kerala. My consignments from Trivandrum to Jabal Ali in Dubai used to take about six weeks,
22:02which is about 42 days, as Sir had explained the transshipment happening outside the country.
22:07Today, Birinyam, Jabal Ali direct sailing time is five days. So five days versus my 42 days 30 years ago.
22:15So that is a change that Birinyam brings. In fact, none of the legacy Indian ports have this advantage.
22:21Practically, with Birinyam, our transit time comes down by less than 50%. And our transit cost also comes
22:29down. So that is why I said Birinyam brings about immense opportunity for the entire country. Now,
22:36as far as the rest of the country is concerned, you know, we can be fairly comfortable because
22:41large transcontinental ships come and drop and pick up cargo at Birinyam. And feeders come from
22:48all the East Coast ports as well as the West Coast ports down to Birinyam, pick up cargo, drop cargo.
22:54So,
22:54that exchange is happening and Birinyam is already part of the global supply chain network. Now,
23:00coming back to what my fellow panelists have said, yes, this port has become a reality in a fishing
23:06village, in a pensioners town called Trivandrum, where we do not have an industrial ecosystem,
23:13we do not have a logistics ecosystem, we do not have a maritime ecosystem. Now, even compared to Kuchin,
23:18Kuchin has got a 100 year legacy. So this is something where, you know, there's a goldmine of opportunity,
23:25as Raghu said, where certain proactive government interventions are required. You know, the glitches
23:31are land is terribly expensive. So we have to make land available at reasonable cost to potential
23:37investors. And this, in my opinion, will definitely happen over the next five years. Government has got
23:43large ambitious plans, you know, what the outer ring road made, you know, Hyderabad, the global metro,
23:5280 kilometer outer ring road of Hyderabad. Something very similar is in the pipeline in Trivandrum,
23:59where we are creating a 65 kilometer long outer ring road with Government of India support.
24:03Then the rail connectivity also will be a reality in the next couple of years time. So with that,
24:10we are very confident, you know, land acquisition also is happening by different. So there are three,
24:15I'll put these potential investments into three different distinct buckets. Number one is
24:21the maritime support services which have to come up there. The second is, as both the fellow speakers
24:27mentioned, that without the logistics infrastructure becoming a reality on the land side, we just watch
24:35the fun from the sidelines and clap our hands. That's it. So we have to make sure that the empty
24:42container yards, the container freight stations, the multimodal logistics subs, all these have to come.
24:47And from the government side, now there's a very proactive push in, you know, attracting investments
24:53and making it a reality, whatever facilitation is required in terms of land. So my assessment is that
24:59in the next three years, which will coincide with the capacity augmentation, which is being done by the
25:04private partner in this project, which is Adani Group. So by the time they complete the capacity augmentation by
25:112028, a fair amount of these gaps which are currently there in William will also be addressed by the
25:19government, attracting a fairly large amount of investments into that region.
25:23And that will trigger off, you know, that will really be the multiplier effect in the economy,
25:30in terms of job opportunities, in terms of economic transformation of the state, because Kerala can
25:35today produce for the whole world. That's the advantage that William brings on.
25:40Srinivas Srinivasan, Ph.D.: Can I add something to what Mr. Srikumar said?
25:44I think the crucial point for the state of Kerala, which has made the huge investment,
25:49is that we must have the maximum percentage as gateway cargo. Now, this is basically a transshipment port,
25:56and if you have just 10 or 15 percent of cargo as gateway cargo, then not much is likely to
26:03happen.
26:04If you take, for example, Colombo. Colombo has been a very successful port, very similar to William in many ways.
26:11It's close to the international shipping channel. It's got debt, everything. But obviously they didn't do
26:18the kind of things which should have made the Colombo, sorry, Sri Lanka into a very industrialized
26:24country, because they neglected all the port-dependent industries. If that hadn't come up, the same fate
26:32awaits us. We know Sri Lanka is an industrially undeveloped country, and that is continued to
26:38going to happen in Kerala unless we change the proportion of cargo, which is going to be gateway
26:43cargo. Kochi developed because it's a gateway port. That's why it is not a transshipment port,
26:48though sometimes we call it as also a transshipment hub.
26:52So here we have to focus mostly on having at least 30 percent, one third of the cargo as
26:58gateway cargo. That should be the target for the government of Kerala and for the Adani group.
27:03Okay, great. In fact, Mr. Nair has said that, you know, this will, the industry should be ready. I mean,
27:12it can make Kerala a big industry friendly state. So we are coming to the local aspect of it. So
27:18is the
27:18industry ready to tap the advantage? What are the big, you know, which are the sectors that you feel
27:26could immediately benefit? What is going on? What's the kind of thoughts, mind process going on among
27:32entrepreneurs and businessmen? See, once this port has been commissioned, it's that the word has gone
27:40around or around the world. I mean, it's gone all over the world. And today you find most of the
27:45youth,
27:46maybe you can see the startups and you look at the MSMEs and also industrial houses, shipping companies.
27:52They all have been coming to try and have in a big way. They come to the chamber of commerce.
27:56We
27:56talk to them. The fact is that, you know, like what Srikumar was saying, yes, five years is,
28:03they have to wait for five years for this to really become the, to become, to come to the full
28:08potential. I do not know whether that is right, because if you're going to ask them to wait for
28:13five years, will somebody else take, take them away? That's my fear. The thing is that, you know,
28:17you, when you tell some people something, we should be able to do it fast. And there,
28:22I think government need to do a proactive step because the new government is coming. Now it's
28:26150 days. I think it's time that government start performing because government now seems to be
28:31talking, but they have to walk the talk. They cannot be simply saying that, you know,
28:35we'll do that and do this. Unless government walk the talk, we will not be reaching what we have to
28:39reach. And this is what worrying us because we feel that, you know, we have to give definite,
28:44clear answers to investors. When they come in, we must tell them what they can do. And, you know,
28:49and we have to give them an idea. There is no master plan totally for the area. And even government
28:53today says, if you're going to acquire property, what steps have you taken to acquire property? Who is
28:58acquiring? Is it Kinfra? Is it going to be case IDC? Or is it going to be whistle? Who is
29:03acquiring the
29:04property? No steps have been, no notifications have been done till now. So unless you do this
29:08notification, acquire property is not that easy as you talk talking. We can definitely say that
29:13things are okay, but unless you want things to happen, we must see it on the ground without
29:17saying it on the ground. I don't believe it. I want to see it. Great. So, uh, Mr. Srikumar,
29:22I think I, I think I, you can have the last word in this because, uh, the onus is now
29:28on you.
29:29The ball is in your court. The industry wants something to happen very quickly and the government
29:33should be stepping up. And, uh, how do you, where do you see things? Essentially,
29:38essentially it's all about, you know, getting an industrial ecosystem in place in South Kerala,
29:45which is currently zero, uh, unlike in Kuchin or, uh, the other parts of the state. So here,
29:52you know, there are pipeline programs, very proactive time bound programs in place. In fact,
29:59the honorable CMs, the larger canvas that he draws in terms of a Kerala port city, the Mission Samadira,
30:07it's all about creating on the land side, the necessary connectivities, the industrial clusters,
30:14or rather even a larger dream of industrial cities. Now, we have a very big challenge if we are trying
30:21to identify land within a 10 to 15 kilometer radius of the William international seaport,
30:28you know, it has blown out of control. So we are moving into the hinterland. We are moving inwards,
30:34you know, probably 20 kilometer, 30 kilometers. Some other actually very active plans cannot be
30:41disclosed in a public forum, because there are ways in which people can artificially boost the land
30:46costs. And, you know, that will really jeopardize our plans. But let me assure, uh, you know, my fellow
30:53panelists and Ragu is very passionate about this, you know, leveraging Virginia. Let me just assure them
30:59that, you know, in the next couple of years, we'll see a whole lot of change really happening on ground,
31:06where the state of Kerala will be fully equipped to, uh, leverage on the Virginia potential.
31:13Okay. Just a few words. Just one word. See, one mistake we should not make is we should not
31:20spread our resources too thin. I happen to be the co-chairman of the, uh, fifth five, uh, I mean,
31:27the current five-year plan for ports. And we had specifically recommended to the government along with
31:32the port secretary at that time that we should have only three or maximum four ports. Three is ideal.
31:36Now, uh, I believe that the current government wants to develop 13 ports. So that will be spreading
31:43our resources very thin. Ports are, you know, infrastructure with very high economies of scale
31:48and very high costs. You can't have a port for less than 10,000 crores now. So that is a
31:54mistake
31:54which we'll be making. There won't be enough cargo for anything. Okay. And that will lead to a real
31:59problem. Okay. So that should be the policy mistake the government should correct. Yeah. I think what
32:04government should do is when you come to, when you come to the goalposts, don't keep on changing the
32:09goalposts. This is what's happening over the last three, this, this is, this port has gone through
32:15three state governments and you can't keep on changing goalposts. The continuity of the policy
32:20has to be firm. It cannot vary from government to government. Okay. This is what I have to say.
32:25Great. So the message is very clear. We have got a port which has got the international potential.
32:30Already so much of investment has happened. There is so much of, um, uh, expansion that we are going
32:36to see in the next phase, which will help put Kerala on the international map. But there are certain
32:42things that we need to be doing, uh, to make this happen quickly. So just one concluding statement,
32:48you know, sir mentioned about Kerala having spent 70% of the cost of developing this port,
32:54uh, a minor correction in it. When the first phase of the project, which is currently commissioned,
33:00is completed, the state has invested a very substantial amount in terms of the land side
33:07infrastructure. So that is a commitment that the state has spent. Whereas the phase one,
33:12the expenditure by the private partner was just about 30% of what the state had already spent. But
33:19moving forward, I would like to just clarify by 2028, whatever money that Adani group has spent in
33:26William international seaport is the largest private sector investment in the state of Kerala.
33:33Okay. That sends out a very positive message to the outside world. Also, they would end up spending
33:39almost about 3 billion US dollars on this project by 2028, which is substantially more than what
33:45the commitment of government of Kerala. Okay. Got it. So on that positive note,
33:51we end this conference. A big round of applause to all the three dignitaries on the desk. Thank you.
33:55Thank you very much, gentlemen, for joining us here at the India Today Conclave. Can I request Dr.
34:00N. Manoharan, Director of Projects, Hindustan Institute of Science and Technology, to please come up on stage
34:06and felicitate our speakers.
34:11...
34:36...
34:38...
35:01Thank you very much once again
35:03for joining us here at the India Today