Page 254 - economic review

INFRASTRUCTURE226

Water Transport Sector

Port Sector

5.45 The Minor and Intermediate Ports in Kerala lie in the south west corner of the Indian peninsula.
Kerala has a coastal length of 585 km and the state has an average width of about 60 km with
one major port at Cochin and 17 minor ports . Government of Kerala intends to provide a boost to
coastal shipping with the development of ports. The forest area in the east and coastal area in the
west are environmentally very sensitive areas. The geographical location of Kerala is very close
to international shipping route. Out of seventeen minor ports in Kerala three are considered as
intermediate ports These have contributed much to the development of industry, trade, commerce
and agriculture in the country.

5.46 The Government of Kerala has already decided to develop five ports through PPP mode.
These Ports are Azheekal, Beypore, Ponnani, Alappuzha and Kollam . Apart from this the major port,
Vizhinjam Deepwater International Container Transshipment Terminal has been sanctioned .

5.47 The Government agencies involved in the development of ports in the State are Port Department,
Harbour Engineering Department, and Hydrographic Survey Wing.

Port Department

Minor Ports

5.48 The minor ports are administered directly by the Director of Ports with headquarters at
Thiruvananthapuram. There are three regional officers at Neendakara, Alappuzha and Kozhikkode.
17minor ports in Kerala are Neendakara,Alappuzha,Vizhinjam,Valiyathura,Thankasserry,Kaya
mkulam,Manakkodam, Munambam, Ponnani, Beypore, Vadakara, Thalasserry, Manjeswaram,
Neeleswaram, Kannur, Azhikkal and Kasaragode. Out of which three are considerded as intermediate
ports based on berthing ,cargo handling and storage facilities available in them . They are Neendakara
,Alappuzha and Kozhikode. Most of the ports in the State are seasonal in nature with insufficient
infrastructure to handle even medium and small sized vessels throughout the year .Government of
Kerala allowed private sector investment in non major ports since1994. An amount of Rs. 27759
lakh, Rs.7869 lakh, Rs 9869 lakh was earmarked for this sector as budget support during 2012-13,
2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively.

5.49 Presently cargo operations take place mainly in three ports ie, in Vizhinjam ,Beypore and
Azhikal ports . At Beypore, passenger traffic to Lakshadweep islands is also handled . Commodity –
wise cargo handled in the minor ports during the year 2013-14 are shown in Appendix 5.20. Cargo
handled during 2013-14 was confined mainly to Kozhikode, Kollam, Vizhinjam and Azhikkal ports.
During 2013-14, 541 steamers and sailing vessels with registered tonnage of 205248 are called at
non- major ports against 512 steamers and sailing vessels with 308438 tonnage in the previous year.
This shows increase in number of steamers and decrease in tonnage. The details are shown in
Appendix 5.21. Statement showing the revenue collection at the non-major ports during 2013-14 is
shown in Appendix 5.22.

Kerala State Planning Board