NEW DELHI: CPI(M) has objected to the Kerala Government’s move to handover the works of proposed Vizhinjam port to Adani Ports, the only bidder for the project. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has urged both the State and Union Governments to handover the construction of the port to the public sector.
Yechury, also a former chairman of the standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, said the panel had raised several concerns over the growing number of PPPs in developing ports.
He said the panel had noted that the private partners eventually use the operating right as a captive facility and levy certain extraneous charges and claim that such charges do not form part of revenue eligible to be shared with the port trust. He added that the panel had studied the prospects of Vizhinjam port, a mother port, in detail.
Yechury said given the importance of the Vizhinjam port from the national security perspective, it should not go into the hands of a private developer. “It’s not just about allowing private players to make windfall gains from a mother port, but also an issue concerning the national security. The project should remain in the public sector,” he told BusinessLine.
