Vizhinjam seaport phase 2 expansion set to begin next month

The Vizhinjam deep-water seaport, dedicated to the nation in early May, is poised to launch its Phase Two expansion next month. Scheduled for completion by 2028, the second phase will boost the port’s annual container handling capacity to around 4.5 million TEUs and add new infrastructure, including a break-bulk berth, a tanker berth, and a bunkering facility along an extended 4-km breakwater.

Since commencing commercial operations in December 2024, Vizhinjam has handled nearly 1 million TEUs. Its existing 800-metre container berth can accommodate one container mother ship and two feeder vessels simultaneously. Phase Two will extend the berth to 2,000 metres, enabling the port to berth three mother ships and several feeder vessels at once.

While Phase One, costing just under ₹9,000 crore, was jointly funded by the Kerala and Union governments with viability gap support, the ₹10,000-crore Phase Two will be financed entirely by Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd (APSEZ).

The Kerala government signed an agreement with APSEZ in 2015 to develop Vizhinjam under a 40-year build–operate–transfer concession, with an option to extend for another 20 years. Trial operations began in July 2024 with the arrival of the port’s first mother ship, San Fernando.

With a natural deep draft of around 20 metres close to shore, the port requires minimal dredging—an advantage that reinforces its status as a strategic transshipment hub.