A long-simmering dispute over compensation to project-affected people at the Vizhinjam port site has forced Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) to halt construction, threatening the concessionaire’s 1,000-day completion deadline. Local sources told JOC.com that authorities temporarily suspended all work at the site a week ago after protesters, mostly from the local fishing community, stepped up their action, including blockades, to press for the implementation of a rehabilitation package reached earlier. The work stoppage is a major setback for the project, when Adani was making all efforts to meet the completion target, an industry representative told JOC.com. Sources also said the stoppage is costing the company heavily, reportedly Rs. 8 crore ($1.2 million) per day, in addition to other long-term potential implications. There is no indication if any talks have been scheduled to resolve the impasse. Efforts to contact officials at APSEZ on Tuesday for comment were also unsuccessful. The Vizhinjam concession was awarded to APSEZ in August 2015, involving public-private investments worth Rs. 7,525 crore in two stages. The Rs. 4,100-crore Phase I includes a berth length of 800 meters (about 2,625 feet), a 131-acre container yard, and an annual capacity of 1 million TEU, with the opening originally scheduled for December 2019. Vizhinjam is about 10 miles southwest of Trivandrum in India’s southern state of Kerala and roughly 175 nautical miles from Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port, which accounts for the majority of Indian transshipment cargo. The site is well-suited for a large transshipment port because of its proximity to the main east-west shipping lane and deep draft of up to 72 feet with minimum dredging that will enable it to handle the largest mega-ships in service. However, much of its success will depend on hinterland connectivity, which is sorely missing at this juncture. Vizhinjam had been dogged by controversy from the outset. The first attempt to bid out the project in 2006 fell through when Indian federal agencies refused security clearance to a Chinese consortium that had won the concession. In 2009, domestic developer Lanco Group was shortlisted under a second tender, but pulled its bid because of lengthy delays in awarding the contract. APSEZ’s contract is the culmination of a third attempt that kicked off in 2013. The project again sparked controversy this year when the Comptroller and Auditor General, which examines all public work contracts in the country, concluded that the state authority overlooked various public-private partnership guidelines when selecting APSEZ’s lone bid for the project. APSEZ, part of the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate Adani Group, operates India’s biggest non-government cargo terminal at Mundra, which is close to doubling capacity to 6.6 million TEU annually through strategic collaboration with carrier giants CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Company. The group’s other Indian marine locations are Ennore, Hazira, Tuna-Tekra (Kandla), Dahej, Dhamra, Mormugao, and Visakhapatnam, but the company seeks to become an international player and is pursuing a joint venture with Malaysia’s MMC Port Holdings about 30 miles southwest of Kuala Lumpur.