Kochi, Saturday, February 05, 2011: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate India’s first Greenfield International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) on February 11, said the Port trust Chairman N Ramachandran.

The Vallarapdam project will be India’s largest single operator container terminal and the first in a Special Economic Zone. The project has been built at a cost of more than Rs.3, 000 crore, the Union Government of India footing the bill for the rail and road connectivity and undertaking dredging operations.

Nearly half of India’s containerized cargo depends on transhipment hubs like Colombo, Salalah and Singapore now. Commissioning of the Vallarpadam project will result in Indian maritime business saving nearly $ 150 on every container in transhipment charges alone. Transit time savings will also be significant for cargo transhipped through Vallarpadam.

According to rough estimates, Indian maritime business pays between Rs.1, 000 and Rs.1, 200 crore annually in transhipment charges.
The Vallarpadam project is being commissioned in three stages. In the first phase, the terminal will handle one million TEUs of cargo; in the second phase 1.5 million TEUs and in the third 5.5 million TEUs yearly.