THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Adani Group, which is undertaking the Vizhinjam container terminal project, has approached the government seeking extension of time for the completion of the project till 2023.
In the discussions held between ports minister Ahammad Devarkovil with Adani Group officials here, the group has informed the minister that the project would be completed by 2023.
Later, the minister and the group officials said that the government was committed to complete the project and would be completed by December 2023.
The project, for which the previous UDF government had entered into an agreement with the Adani Group in 2015, was to be completed by December 2019.
The concessionaire company had raised 16 disputes at different points, and had sought the extension in completion of the project by claiming the benefits of force majeure clause in the agreement.
The company had raised multiple reasons like cyclone, floods, strike, Covid-19 etc as the reasons for delay in completion of the project.
But these were rejected by the government.
The government had entered into an agreement with M/s Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd (AVPPL) for the construction of a deep-water multipurpose seaport at Vizhinjam on August 17, 2015.
The scheduled day of completion of the Vizhinjam international multipurpose seaport project as per the agreement was the 1,460th day after signing the agreement, which was on December 3, 2019.
However, the project could not be completed on time due to multiple reasons.
In the wake of Adani Group and the state government not being able to settle their differences, the matter was referred for arbitration, which is a quasi-judicial process for settling disputes with judicial intervention.
The government had appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph as the arbitrator on its behalf.
Though the government had requested the company to settle its differences through reconciliation talks before moving for arbitration, the Adani Group had refused to budge.
It had also informed the government that if the government fails to appoint an arbitrator on its behalf, the company would approach international centre for alternate dispute resolution (ICADR) and seek appointment for an arbitrator on behalf of the government as well, under ICADR Arbitration Rules, 1996.
