Even as the Beypore port was allocated ₹15 crore in the State budget, the delay in implementing many of the previously announced development proposals and the port’s non-inclusion in the Union government’s Sagarmala flagship project continues to hit its future prospects. Exporters’ forums also indicate that the State has to walk an extra mile to lift the status of Beypore from the position of a minor port to a well-equipped sea port.
The Port Advisory Council under the Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the promise in the last year’s budget that Beypore and Kollam ports would be included in the Sagarmala project was not kept. They also added that not even a single project has been proposed or won the clearance of the Union government to be included under the programme.
The annual cargo handling capacity of the Beypore port continues to be 5,000 tonnes for many years. The delay in facility upgrade has contributed a lot to the financial loss that the minor port recently suffered following the pandemic-induced crisis.
