The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is anticipated to approve a critical temporary road connectivity plan connecting the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala to National Highway 66 (NH 66) as the port gets ready for its December commissioning.
By November, it is expected that NHAI headquarters in New Delhi would have given its final clearance to this proposal and the design for a permanent cloverleaf road access.
The state-owned Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL) filed the proposal, which details both short-term and long-term road connectivity plans. Construction of the temporary road is scheduled to start as soon as the approval is received.
Within three months of the port’s opening, container movement by road is expected to start, according to a senior VISL official.
VISL and the Adani Group are completing plans for a temporary rail link in addition to road connectivity. In order to control the movement of goods until a projected tunnel railway project is completed, Nemom or Balaramapuram railway stations may be transformed into container rail terminals (CRT). Although Neyyattinkara station is also being considered, Nemom is the recommended choice because of its large container storage capacity. Indian Railways’ approval is awaited but anticipated shortly.
The majority of the land required for road connectivity has already been purchased by VISL. 35.81 cents of the 42 cents of land that are needed have been obtained. But in order to build the permanent cloverleaf intersection, the state government will need to purchase an extra 20 acres, which should take two years.
Before merging onto the highway, cargo vehicles will utilize an approach route to travel along NH 66’s right-side service road until the permanent infrastructure is finished.
The permanent road infrastructure tender process will start as soon as the required permits and land purchases are completed, guaranteeing the seaport’s long-term connection.
In order to become the nation’s future transhipment hub, Vizhinjam is envisioned as an all-weather, multipurpose, deepwater, mechanized, greenfield port that aims to capture the majority of the Indian transhipment cargo currently handled by the neighboring foreign ports.
Once operational, the port can provide 18 to 24 hours of service to about 120 million customers in five main South Indian cities: Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi.
