The Government of Kerala has submitted a proposal to the Union Ministry of Shipping, proposing Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram district on the Kerala Tamil Nadu border as the possible location for setting up a shipyard on the West Coast of India.

The details of the proposal are as under:

• The proposed site has a waterfront area of 2.5 km in length and about 800 to 1,000 acres can be made available of, which a part will be by land acquisition and rest by reclamation.
• Water depth of 13 meter is available within 500 meter of the shoreline. After reclamation the depth of 13 meter will be available alongside.
• The site can be easily provided with road and rail connectivity. At present, NH 47 is less than 10 kilometer from the site and Kanyakumari Thiruvananthapuram broad gauge railway line is less than 10 km away.
• The new Port at Vizhinjam can be made use for the shipment of all the material required for the development and functioning of the shipyard.

Mumbai Port Trust has been appointed as the nodal agency for setting up the proposed shipyard and the consultants is likely to be appointed by the nodal agency to identify three or four alternative sites.