Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 16 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Saturday extended the last date for bidding for the proposed Vizhinjam port till Aug 17 to enable the Shipping Corporation of India to put up its offer.

"We have been informed by them (Shipping Corporation of India) that they are also keen to bid for building up the proposed Vizhinjam port and since we consider them as an important entity, we have decided to extend the last date by a month to Aug 17," said Chandy.

The Vizhinjam port is to come up near the famed tourist destination of Kovalam and the proposed site has a natural depth of 24 metres, one of the deepest in the world, and hence requires no dredging.

It will be located close to a busy international shipping route, and is envisaged to handle 4.1 million containers annually.

The green signal for this much-delayed project came last month when the environment minister Jairam Ramesh announced that the environment impact assessment study on the proposed Vizhinjam international container terminal will be completed in a year's time.

At a meeting with Chandy and his cabinet colleagues, Jairam Ramesh asked the government to go ahead with all the formalities and to look for the necessary funds required for the mega project.

The previous Left government in November last year had asked the State Bank of Travancore to form a consortium of banks to raise Rs.2,500 crore which would be the initial funding required for the project.