NEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s Kerala state will proceed \u201cno matter what\u201d with a $900 million port project and is open to deploying federal police if needed to protect it from protesters blocking construction, a government minister told Reuters on Saturday.
\nThe local fishing community, led by Catholic priests, has blocked construction of Vizhinjam port by Adani Group for almost four months, erecting a makeshift shelter at the port\u2019s entrance. The protesters say the huge project causes coastal erosion that has undermined their livelihoods, calling for a complete halt on the construction.
\nAdani Group, led by Asia\u2019s richest man Gautam Adani, and the Kerala government, which is shouldering two-thirds of the project cost with the federal government, have denied such accusations. Clashes between police and protesters last weekend injured more than 100 people, including 64 police.
\nAlthough the protesters have refused to budge, Kerala\u2019s minister of ports, Ahammed Devarkovil, said the government of the southern state was hopeful of resolving the deadlock but there was no chance it would halt construction.
\n\u201cWe want to complete the port project no matter what. No compromise can be made on that,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cBecause these are civilians protesting, the government\u2019s position is to take this forward without inflicting any harm\u201d on protesters.
\nAsked for comment on Devarkovil\u2019s remarks, a protest leader, Fredy Solomon, said protests would continue as \u201chouses and livelihoods of thousands of fishermen are at stake.\u201d
\nAdani Group did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. The conglomerate has repeatedly urged a state court to authorise having the federal police guard the project so work may resume, saying local police were \u201cmute spectators\u201d.
\nMinister Devarkovil said Kerala remains open to the idea of deploying the federal Central Reserve Police Force.
\nAdani wants to complete the first phase of construction by December 2024, but Devarkovil said his government was hopeful of getting the first vessel to the port by September next year, even as construction continues. It wants to make up for lost time by deploying workers to work extra hours and putting more industrial equipment to use.
\n\u201cAdani Group is willing to do that,\u201d Devarkovil said.
\nGautam Adani, whose empire spans gas and power projects as well as a ports and logistics business valued at some $23.5 billion, has described Vizhinjam as an \u201cunmatched location\u201d on the critical east-west shipping route.
\n\u201cThe possibilities being opened up by Vizhinjam port are unmatched by any other in India,\u201d Devarkovil said. \u201cWe will be set to grab business from Sri Lanka port.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India\u2019s Kerala state will proceed \u201cno matter what\u201d with a $900 million port project and is open to deploying federal police if needed to protect it from protesters blocking construction, a government minister told Reuters on Saturday. The local fishing community, led by Catholic priests, has blocked construction of Vizhinjam port by Adani […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-299102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n