THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The deadline for submitting financial proposals for the multi-crore Vizhinjam Seaport project has been extended again by one month. The new deadline is August 16. This is the third time that the State Government is stretching the date. The latest deadline ended at 5 p.m. on July 15. Officials cited the very same reason for setting the new schedule - the companies shortlisted for the project, including Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), had sought the extension.‘’SCI being a shipping major whose participation in the project is highly valued by the state, we have decided to extend the deadline,’’ Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said while inaugurating the Ocean State Forecast and Fishery Information System at Vizhinjam on Saturday.In all, 12 companies had made it to the shortlist prepared by the Chief Secretary-led Empowered Committee. That was in February. They were given two months’ time, up to April 19, to file their respective financial proposals before Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, the State Government company overseeing the project.But the successive deadlines were extended, mostly because the companies had sought it. Recently, the UDF Government had informed the Assembly about fresh schedules for implementing the first phase of the project, which is now estimated to cost Rs 4,400 crore. According to it, the land acquisition for the project site would be completed by March 2012 and for the railway, by July 2012.The Environmental Impact Assessment is expected to be completed and clearance gained from the Ministry of Environment and Forests in March 2012. The tender documents for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) bid will be ready by November this year. The EPC contractor is expected to be selected by April 2012. Ports Minister K Babu had told the Assembly that the first phase would be commissioned in 2015.
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