Thiruvananthapuram | Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kerala on Thursday evening to participate in the commissioning ceremony of the Vizhinjam International Seaport on May 2.

He landed at the technical area of the Thiruvananthapuram airport and, en route to the Raj Bhavan, waved to the people—including BJP workers—who had gathered along the roadside to welcome him. Modi greeted them from his vehicle with folded hands.

He was received at the airport by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Minister of State George Kurian, and Shashi Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram.

The crowd outside the airport greeted him with chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Narendra Modi ki Jai.”

The Prime Minister will be staying at the Raj Bhavan.

The commissioning of the port is expected to firmly place Kerala on the global maritime map and transform India’s role in international trade and shipping.

The deep-water port, developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ)—India’s largest port developer and part of the Adani Group—was built under a public-private partnership.

The project was completed at an estimated cost of Rs 8,867 crore. Following a successful trial run, the port received its commercial commissioning certificate on December 4 last year.