Adani meets Chandy, Achuthanandan ahead of inking of Vizhinjam agreement.

The concession agreement for the Rs. 7,525-crore Vizhinjam international deep water multi-purpose seaport will be signed this evening at a ceremony in the Kerala Government Secretariat.

State Ports Secretary James Varghese will sign the agreement on behalf of the Kerala Government while Santosh Kumar Mohapatra, CEO, will represent Adani Vizhinjam Ports, the concessionaire.

ADANI MEETS CM

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Gautam Adani, Chairman and Managing Director, Adani Ports & SEZ, which was the lone bidder for the mega project, will be present at the signing ceremony.

Accompanied by a big entourage, Adani reached the state capital in the morning. He met the Chief Minister and is learnt to have extended an assurance that the project will be completed “ahead of schedule.”

Construction is scheduled to begin on November 1 and the original execution time is four years.

Adani is also scheduled to meet VS Achuthanandan, Leader of the Left Democratic Front Opposition (LDF), which has chosen not to attend the signing ceremony.

OPPOSITION CONCERN

But sources in the Opposition front have hastened to add that their protest is not against the project per se but the manner in which the government is proceeding with its implementation.

On its part, the government has argued that it has pursued the project in the most transparent manner and has taken into confidence the Opposition and the public at large at every stage.

The Adani group chief's gesture to drive down to the official residence of the Leader of Opposition is widely thought to be an exercise to smooth ruffled feathers — the LDF and the UDF have ruled the state in turns — even as the company prepares to take up work on the mega project.

The concession agreement will be signed at 5 pm at a function in the Durbar Hall of the Secretariat.

HBL