Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Vizhinjam International Seaport on May 2. The Kerala government has received official confirmation from the PMO, Ports Minister V N Vasavan said. The event will take place at 11am at the port site.

The inauguration comes nearly four months after the port began commercial operations in December 2024. Modi’s visit follows a key agreement between the state and Centre on the Viability Gap Fund (VGF), resolving a long-standing dispute. On April 9, both sides signed a deal under which the Union government will contribute Rs 8.17 billion as its share of the VGF to Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd (AVPPL), the port’s concessionaire.

The tripartite agreement was signed by the Centre, AVPPL and the project’s lending banks. As part of the deal, the Kerala government has also agreed to share 20 per cent of the port’s revenue with the Union government.

In March, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change cleared the next two phases of the port’s development.

With the VGF agreement in place, all formalities for the first phase have been completed. Vasavan said the handover of the port marks Kerala’s entry into global maritime trade.

Trial runs at Vizhinjam began on July 13, 2024, with commercial operations starting on December 3. Since then, the port has handled 263 vessels and processed 536,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). In February and March, Vizhinjam topped cargo movement among ports along India’s south and west coasts and crossed the 100,000 TEU mark in monthly throughput.