Vallarpadam News

India’s first International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT) in the Special Economic Zone at Vallarpadam Island will turn India into a key player in International trade map. When fully developed, the ICTT, a part of the expansion project at the Cochin Port, would be the largest individual terminal in India. The total cost of the first and second phase of the terminal is pegged at around Rs 6,250 crore. When completed, the terminal will be able to handle 4 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo per annum. The first phase of the project is ready to handle one million TEUs per annum. The project will be operated by Dubai Port World (DPW) and aims to make Kochi a key centre in the shipping world, reducing India’s dependence on foreign ports to handle trans-shipment requirements.
ICTT will generate additional employment opportunities, facilitate investment flow to the tune of Rs 7,500 crore and help in the development of port-based industries to transform Kochi into an economic hub.
As part of the project, India’s longest railway bridge - 4.62 km long - was set up over the Vembanad Lake, thereby establishing rail connectivity to Vallarpadam from the mainland. The ICTT project was taken up considering the rapid growth of container traffic in India. Due to lack of transshipment facilities in Indian ports, a substantial quantity of container traffic is transshipped through foreign transshipment terminals such as Colombo, Salalah, Dubai and Singapore, resulting in additional costs and delays ranging from seven to 10 days. The ICTT will provide facilities for handling mother ships and thereby obviate the need for transshipment of Indian containers through other countries. This is expected to result in an average cost saving of $300 per box, giving huge benefits to the Export-Import industry. The proposed LNG terminal near the ICTT site when completed will bring an added vibrancy to the project area. This will also give way for a power plant and seafood processing and storage stations.
Economic utilisation of the cargo carrying capacity of Indian railways and Konkan Railways and National Highways will be possible since a substantial volume of containers will be transported between hinterland and port by land mode. The terminal opens up immense potential for allied industries like Container Freight Stations, Inland Container depots, port based Special Economic Zones, transportation of cargo through inland waterways, logistics and warehousing centres. Being labour intensive industries, these are expected to generate substantial employment opportunities in the state. Better port facilities will also give a thrust to agriculture and related farm sector. Farmers in the entire southern peninsula will be able to take advantage of the port. As per the terms of the License Agreement, the existing Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal (RGCT) of the Port was taken over by IGT on 01/04/2005 for operation till the commissioning of the new ICTT. The anticipated total investment of the BOT Operator is Rs. 2118 Crores, whereas the estimated cost of the Phase I development of the Terminal is Rs.1262 crores. The establishment of NH connectivity and Rail connectivity to these Port areas together with the availability of deep and channel for the navigation of large size vessels under ICTT Project will throw up opportunities for the fructification of the various Port development schemes like LNG Terminal, International Bunkering terminal, International Ship Repair Facilities and International Cruise Terminal. The new NH connectivity to ICTT at Vallarpadam comprising of construction of four lane road and bridges, with a route length of 17.2km from Kalamassery to Vallarpadam, is being executed by NHAI. CCEA approved the project in April 2007 for an estimated cost of Rs. 557 crores, which is being revised to Rs.872 crores.

ICTT Growth Potential