VALLAR PADAM PROJECT

    The Vallarpadam International container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.. Vallarpadam, with an initial capacity to handle one million TEUs of cargo , was a strategic and prestigious project for the country, In the second phase, the project would handle three million TEUS, a target to be achieved by 2014.

    As part of efforts to increase India's share in global ship-building the government planned to provide incentives such as tax subsidies and preferential purchase by public sector companies to raise India's share to five percent from the current one percent by 2017. A new ship building policy was being prepared to achieve this target. The Rajiv Gandhi container terminal would be utilized to attract large bulk carries to Kochi. Container operations were currently carried out from the terminal, which had attractive features such as a draft of 12.5 meter sand rail siding.

Prof. John Kurakar