KOCHI: Kerala is in danger of losing the early advantage from the Vizhinjam port — one of the few in the world capable of handling ships carrying 3.5 lakh tonnes — if it fails to unlock thousands of acres of idle plantation land for industry and infrastructure. Despite the state spending nearly Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore on the project without a rupee of Central viability gap funding, development around the port has been slow.

Unless Kerala builds townships, logistics parks and industrial corridors to support the port, the economic spin-offs may well flow to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which is already preparing to tap its benefits.

At the Vision 2031 conference in Kochi on Monday, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal sounded the alarm and stirred a debate. He said Vizhinjam’s promise went far beyond docking massive vessels; it demanded a complete transformation of the region’s infrastructure and economy.

“All vibrant economies in the world are port-driven,” he said. “What is built in Pune reaches Mumbai’s JNPT; what is built in Haryana travels 1,500 km to Gujarat or Mumbai for export. Kerala must be able to do the same — from Vizhinjam to Kasaragod — within four hours.”

The minister urged that the state’s vast, underutilized plantation tracts, especially around Vizhinjam, be opened up for non-polluting industries and value-added agriculture. 

“There are more than 10,000 acres of plantation land lying idle. These are rubber estates that people have stopped tapping. Why can’t we use these for warehouses, godowns or electronics assembly units?” he asked. The minister said Kerala must explore new crops like rambutan and dragon fruit, which can fetch farmers Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per acre, and tap the export market for cut flowers and leaves.