Vizhinjam global tender receives 21 bidders

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 3 (UNI) Kerala Ports Minister M Vijayakumar today said as many as 21 tenders have been received from international companies for the proposed deep-sea container terminal at Vizhinjam, near here, for which the state government had floated a global tender.

Speaking at the inaugural function of dredging of the Vizhinjam harbour as part of the terminal's development works, the minister said six harbours among the 17 in the state would be developed in the first phase. ''The state's development lays in the development of ports,'' he noted.

There was good response for the global tender and the evaluation of the bid would be completed by this month.

Earlier, Mr Vijayakumar had said after security clearance in October, licence would be given to successful bidder in November and the construction would start in December 2008.

UNI