Modi to Inaugurate Vizhinjam Port on May 2

22 Apr 2025 CW Team

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.

Infrastructure Energy

09 Jan 2026

Rajesh Power Secures 65 MW BESS Project in Gujarat

Rajesh Power Services has recently secured a 65 MW / 130 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Gujarat, marking its entry into utility-scale energy storage. The company received a Letter of Intent from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam for the project, which will be developed at Virpore under a tariff-based competitive bidding mechanism supported by Viability Gap Funding through the Power System Development Fund.The project is expected to be executed within 18 months from the signing of the Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement. With the ability to supply 65 MW of power for..

ONGC Forms JV with MOL for Ethane Shipping Operations

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) has recently entered the ethane shipping segment through joint venture agreements with M/s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (Mitsui O.S.K. Lines), Japan. The agreements involve equity participation in two joint venture entities—Bharat Ethane One IFSC Private Limited and Bharat Ethane Two IFSC Private Limited—registered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.Under the arrangement, ONGC will subscribe to 2,00,000 equity shares of Rs 100 each in both entities, resulting in a 50 per cent equity holding in each joint venture, with the remaining stake ..

Mount Expands Tumkur Facility with New Automated Panel, PEB Lines

Mount Roofing & Structures Private Limited, one of India's fastest-growing manufacturers in PUF and a leading solutions provider across pre-engineered building (PEB) and polycarbonate sheets, simultaneously inaugurated its second fully automated continuous sandwich panel manufacturing line and a new PEB manufacturing plant at its integrated campus in Tumkur.The milestone expansion, part of a total investment of Rs 250 crore, marks a significant advancement in the company's commitment to engineered performance, manufacturing scale, and industrial growth. The integrated facility spans approx..