Conveyed displeasure to Adani Ports on Vizhinjam stake sale: Kerala CM

Bengaluru: Kerala chief minister VD Satheesan said on Thursday that he conveyed his government's displeasure to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone over the deal to sell a stake in Vizhinjam International Port without prior approval from the state.

Satheesan, who holds the ports portfolio, told the Kerala assembly Wednesday that the state government had not been consulted on the deal.

The Vizhinjam port project, long billed as Kerala's dream venture, was built by Adani Ports on a concession agreement with the state government. According to the state government, any changes to the shareholding pattern requires its permission under the concession agreement.


Adani Ports on Tuesday announced that a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company Group would invest nearly $1.4 billion in the Vizhinjam project for a 49% stake.

In a press statement issued Thursday, Satheeshan said the state government would take a call on the matter only after examining the relevant clauses of the agreement along with applicable regulations.

Earlier, leader of opposition Pinarayi Vijayan questioned how the Adani Group could go ahead and sell a 49% stake in the Vizhinjam port without the state's consent.

Citing the concession agreement, the former chief minister said any stake sale beyond 25% needed prior government clearance. Doing so without it, he said, “is completely unlawful”.

"This is some international entity coming into the state,” he said, adding that the deal “is a way to earn returns for them (Adani Group)”.

He sought clarity from the state government on whether the deal had its backing. "Is this under the guidance of the government," he asked.

The port deal announcement comes less than a month after the newly elected Congress government, in its revised FY27 budget, unveiled 'Mission Samudra'—a plan to turn Kerala into a port-led economy by tapping its coastline and ports.