According to Kerala Minister for Ports and Excise K Babu, the  Vizhinjam International Deepsea Container Terminal will be operational by 2015. The state government has prepared a time-bound action plan to complete the project, for which tender process to select the Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) bidder would begin next month. The plan is to complete the project in three phases. First phase focusses on developing infrastructure facilites by the state itself with an estimated cost of Rs 4,040 crore.

Already 12 companies have been short listed for the EPC out of 16 companies which bid for it. The project is planned to be implemented under Public-private partnership (PPP) model and its master-plan would be ready by October this year.

Work on the terminal, break-water and reclamation was expected to start after completing the Environment Impact Study in March next year. A ''reputed'' firm, Aecom Ltd had been appointed as EPC consultant, he said. The tender process would be completed in August and the contract would be awarded in November.

Funds for the project would be mobilised through loans and issue of bounds, he said adding a Consortium of Banks, including State Bank of Travancore, had been formed to mobilise resources.