CM Satheesan launches Mission Samudra, Vizhinjam EXIM operations to open new gateway for global trade

Key points

• THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Flagging off containers of new development hopes for the state, Chief Minister VD Satheesan launched the state government's ambitious…
• Stating that Vizhinjam is the first port in the country to have an automated algorithm-driven port.
• Pointing out that the first steps for the International Maritime Museum.
• "More than serving as a crucial point in the maritime map, we will also be able to export value-added products…

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Flagging off containers of new development hopes for the state, Chief Minister VD Satheesan launched the state government’s ambitious Mission Samudra and the Export-Import (EXIM) operations of Vizhinjam Inter Seaport on Tuesday. The move, which anchors Kerala in the global maritime logistics map, opens a new gateway of development between India and the world in Kerala, Satheesan said after the launch.

Stating that Vizhinjam is the first port in the country to have an automated algorithm-driven port. It also employs artificial intelligence, the Chief Minister stated that the state should also be able to link its robust areas like academics with the government’s Samudra Mission.

Pointing out that the first steps for the International Maritime Museum. It celebrates the maritime legacy of Kerala, have already been initiated, Satheesan said that the state is additionally planning to start a cruise terminal at the Cochin Seaport.

“More than serving as a crucial point in the maritime map, we will also be able to export value-added products from our state. It will have the Kerala brand—some of which are in the containers I flagged off today. We have many more things to do towards that,” the CM went on.

As the CM said that the revenue from the port would have climbed ‘a hundred times’ if the work had been completed earlier, the event was never free from political remarks. “Had the road and rail connectivity to the port been completed in the last ten years, we could have had at least a hundred times the revenue we have as of now. We have lost those years, and now the focus is on the speedy, timely completion of the project,” he said. Notably, no members from opposition fronts—both LDF and BJP—attended the event, including Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, MLAs, and Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V V Rajesh.

Presided over by Industries Minister PK Kunhalikkutty, the event was also attended by MLA M Vincent, local body members, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) CEO Ashwani Gupta, Swami Gururatnam Jnana Tapaswi, Palayam Imam Shuhaib Moulavi, Ports secretary Rathan U Kelkar, and Vizhinjam International Sea Port Limited (VISL) MD Geromic George, among others.