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Vallarpadam is situated next to
the Bolghatty
Island on the west, and linked to the
Ernakulam mainland via the new Goshree bridges. It
is about 3.5 kilometers in
length in the north-south
direction and hosts
 a population
of 10,000 people. Vallarpadam is about one kilometer away from
the Ernakulam mainland.
Cochin harbour which is a major
natural harbour located on the
southern side of
Vallarpadam island, is one of the
major ports of the country. This
port was opened to vessels in
1930-31 and was given the status
of a major Port in 1936.
Vallarpadam and the nearby
island 'Puthuvypeen' (New Vypeen
Island) holds great development
potential because of its
proximity to the international
east-west trade route
between Asia and Europe. The
Rs.
2,118 crore (US$442 million) VCTT
(Vallarpadam Container
Transshipment Terminal project),
a hub port is
cleared by the Centre in August
2004, is all set to alter the
development map of Kerala, by
ushering in huge investment in
the coming years.
Once the project is implemented,
it has the capability of
offering up to 2150 metres of
quay length on over 100 hectares
of terminal area and a capacity
growth of up to 3 million TEUs
(20-foot equivalent units).
(Indian ports currently handles
only some 2.5 million TEUs per
annum.)
The project is being awarded to
Dubai Port International (DPI)
for development on
build-operate-transfer basis.
As
part of the infrastructure
development for the project, the
Centre would be investing about
Rs 965 crore for road and
railway links.
The VCTT project is also set to
launch a series of ventures
including the Rs 1,600 crore LNG
terminal, the port-based Special
Economic Zone, International
bunkering terminal, Bulk cargo
terminals, Cruise ship terminal,
Ship repair yard etc.
Around 1,000 acres of land in
Vallarpadam and Puthuvypeen is
proposed as a port-based Special
Economic Zone
(PBSEZ) by the Commerce
Ministry.
PBSEZ will be the first of its
kind in India and Kochi is the
first among the 12 major ports
in the country to have been
identified for setting up such a
facility. (Click below to view
Industry Links).
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