The Vizhinjam International Deepwater Seaport is gearing up for its phase 2 expansion, reportedly expected to start in September 2025 and finish by 2028. The plan is to raise the port’s annual container capacity to around 4.5 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) and add new facilities — a break-bulk berth, a tanker berth, and a bunkering station — all on an extended 4 km breakwater.
Right now, Vizhinjam has an 800-metre container jetty that can handle one container mother ship and two feeder vessels at a time. Phase 2 will stretch this to 2,000 metres, allowing space for three mother ships and multiple feeder vessels simultaneously.
Phase 1, costing just under ₹9,000 crore, was funded jointly by the Kerala and Union governments, including viability gap funding. The ₹10,000 crore bill for phase 2 will be entirely footed by Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd (APSEZ), which has a 40-year concession to build, operate, and transfer the port, with the option to extend for another 20 years.
Trial operations began in July 2024, with the port receiving its first mothership, the San Fernando. Commercial operations kicked off in December 2024, and the port has since handled close to 1 million TEUs — all transshipment cargo so far, 60% of it international and 40% Indian. No exim cargo has yet been handled, but port managers expect that to change as connectivity improves.
The Kerala government is working on an exclusive rail line from Vizhinjam to Balaramapuram, expected to be ready by 2028. A road link to NH-66 is almost complete. Both are expected to make it easier to move exim cargo in and out of the port.
Alongside the port expansion, the state is moving to develop a 200-acre area nearby into a logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing hub, and is considering a ₹360 crore cloverleaf interchange. The Kerala Maritime Board has also proposed handing over more than five acres of its prime land near the Vizhinjam Inspection Bungalow for container yards, freight stations, oil storage, or warehouses
Vizhinjam’s natural deep draft of about 20 metres means minimal dredging and the ability to handle the world’s largest container ships. Port officials believe the Phase 2 upgrade could help draw more global trade traffic and reduce logistics costs for Indian manufacturers.
