Vizhinjam tender to be finalised by December

Thiruvananthapuram: The tender for awarding the contract to implement the proposed international container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam near here will be finalised by December this year.

The Minister for Ports and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr M. Vijayakumar, said during question hour in the State Assembly on Friday that as many as 23 companies, including six foreign ones, had secured tender forms for the project.

He said that the project was envisaged to be implemented in three phases at a total outlay of Rs. 5,348 crore. The first phase was estimated to cost Rs. 2,390 crore and it would be completed in three years.

Salem division

Replying to another question, the Minister said that the formation of Salem railway division would lead to the Palakkad division losing nearly half of its 1,132 km of railway line.

This would affect the very existence of Palakkad division. Besides, the bifurcation might result in the loss of the contribution being made by the Palakkad division to the State’s economy.

He said that the State Government had conveyed its strong protest to the Union Railway Ministry as soon as it came to know about the decision to form a new division. Also, the State Assembly had passed a resolution against the decision and informed the Centre of it.

The State Government had adopted a firm stand on the issue and had submitted memorandums to the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister. The Members of Parliament from the State had also expressed their strong protest in the matter in Parliament, he added.

Panel report

The Minister for Cooperation, Coir and Devaswom, Mr G. Sudhakaran, said in reply to a question that the Kerala Government had not signed agreeing to the conditions contained in the report of the Vaidyanathan Committee.

He explained that the legal and institutional changes prescribed by the committee for getting the financial benefits were not totally acceptable to the Government. These changes were aimed at taking the cooperative movement away from the control of the State Government and bringing it under the purview of the Reserve Bank.