Govt plans logistics parks in and around Vizhinjam

Thiruvananthapuram: State govt has begun preliminary work to establish a network of logistics parks in Vizhinjam and its surrounding areas to support businesses related to the international transshipment port, which is set to launch next month.

Awareness campaigns are being conducted in neighbourhoods such as Venganoor to inform residents about the benefits, potential for jobs and regional development of the project.

The logistics parks will cover 600 acres across Vizhinjam, Venganoor and Balaramapuram.

The move comes after state govt approved a logistics park policy and decided to acquire around 600 hectares from the region under a land pooling facility.

The awareness programmes are going to be held so that people will be able to understand the benefits of land pooling, thus minimizing resistance to acquisition, said a source.

However, state govt is planning to formulate a rule for the project, including land acquisition, and it is likely to take some time.

Sources said that land pooling is being brought in to ensure that the landowners get the maximum benefit and so that there will be no resistance to acquisition. It is said that land will not be acquired unless 70% of the owners agree.

The park will help private businesses to facilitate the transportation of goods to and from Vizhinjam port via road and the proposed rail connectivity from Balaramapuram railway station.

Govt is also constructing a 629-km coastal highway to Kasaragod connecting Vizhinjam, Kollam and Vallarpadam, said an official. The Vizhinjam-Kazhakootam stretch will be developed as a logistics corridor soon.

Sources said that the port is currently a ship-to-ship transshipment facility by which containers unloaded from motherships are loaded onto feeder vessels for transport to other ports in the country. The containers will be moved to trains and trucks when the Balaramapuram-Vizhinjam rail connectivity and the highway are ready.

"The region will benefit only when the containers are moved out of the port via trains and trucks. The logistics park will help businesses process their goods that are unloaded from the ships. It will also process goods brought from elsewhere and load them onto the ships. This involves a lot of ancillary businesses. Hence govt is pushing for a logistics park," sources said.