THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the Congress is claiming former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as the architect of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL), the first CEO of VISL — Dr Jayakumar — has said that the credit must go to former Ports Minister M V Raghavan for having worked tirelessly to realise the dream.

“M V Raghavan, as ports minister, was the mastermind behind realising a detailed project report for the port project and forming a company,” Jayakumar told TNIE.

“Credit must also go to this LDF government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for implementing the project overcoming all obstacles, like cyclone Ockhi, floods, and arbitration.”

MVR had handpicked Jayakumar, who has an MTech and a doctorate in ocean engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, while working with the harbour engineering department.

He said the idea of developing a deep water port at Vizhinjam evolved during the period of 1994-95, at the time of the Karunakaran-led UDF government.

“MVR was the ports minister. The harbour engineering department submitted a project report in March 1995. An MoU was signed with Kumar Energy Corporation on a BOT basis to implement the project. However, due to a lack of progress, it was later cancelled,” Jayakumar said.

In the 2000-2005 UDF government led by A K Antony, MVR was again put in charge of ports. “For the first time, a DPR was prepared for the development of Vizhinjam with private sector participation. That has worked as the base project report till now. It was under MVR’s initiative that a special purpose vehicle (SPC) under the Company Act was formed. Later, the SPC was converted to VISL and I was appointed the first CEO,” he said.

Further, Jayakumar said the first global notification for the development of the port was issued on January 19, 2005, by the UDF government.

“Though the state government approved a bid by a consortium led by Kaidi Electrical Power Company, China, and Gamon India Private Ltd in February 2006, the then Congress-led government at the Centre denied security clearance. Had the Union government given security clearance, the port would have materialised then,” he said.

Jayakumar also said that it was a big surprise for him when the Chief Minister’s Office called him in 2016 after the Pinarayi Vijayan government assumed office.

“I had already taken voluntary retirement from service and was not part of VISL. But the CM asked me whether I would like to work as the CEO of VISL. I said yes as it was a passion for me. The LDF government has successfully implemented the project without losing further revenue to the state and by avoiding arbitration. The credit of executing the project rests with this government,” he added.