Kerala: Global tender for Azhikkal Port

Kannur, June 2: The Kerala Government will call a global tender for the development of Azhikkal Port near here in three months and the port will be commissioned in three years, state Ports Minister M Vijayakumar said.

The works on the Azhikkal Port, which had been included in the National Maritime Development Project (NMDP), would start in 2008, he told reporters here yesterday.

The government with the coordination of NMDP would appoint a consultant to draft a detailed project report within a month, he said and added that the project would be in Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Mr Vijayakumar, who is also the Sports Minister said the government had a profit of Rs 15 crore through the sports lottery.

Stating that sports councils would be set up in all the panchayats, he said funds had been allotted for sports in the plan fund for local bodies.

The government also proposed to set up sports complexes in all the district headquarters.

The SAI centre at Bangalore had agreed to build three synthetic tracks, a hockey turf and a women's sports academy in the state, the minister said.

UNI