Antony told representatives of the Forum for Development of Kochi at Aluva Palace that the exact date will be finalised when he calls on Vajpayee during the chief ministers' conference in Srinagar on Wednesday.

For a fast completion of the ambitious project, Antony asked the forum to convene a meeting of all trade unions at the Cochin Port urgently for getting an assurance that work on the Vallarpadam terminal will not be hindered by labour strikes or any agitation.

"It should be declared a strike-free port," Antony urged the trade unions. Two pre-qualified international players (CSX World Terminals and Maersk Sealand, Denmark) are expected to submit financial bids on 12 September, from which one company will be chosen to execute the project.

The Forum for Kochi Development also urged Antony that the Public Works Department, Roads and Bridges Development Corporation and other organisations should rise to the occasion for taking urgent steps for the improvement of road and rail links from the proposed Vallarpadam terminal to the mainland.

The forum officials also urged Antony that the improvement of road and rail facilities should not affect the normal life of the city. "The railway line to the project site should start from Kalamassery and proceed through the inner areas of Ernakulam without disturbing the functioning of the existing railway stations in the city."

Citing the plight of the Nava Sheva Port, Mumbai, the forum officials pointed out that the roads and rail connection to Vallarpadam project should not increase the traffic congestion.

The forum officials, B M Edward, Prakash Deo, F Cornelius Aruja, Thomas Berleigh, Varghese Kuruvill and Steamer Agents' Association president C S Kartha, also submitted a memorandum to Antony in this connection.

Antony, in the meantime, has assured the representatives of 'Save HOC Action Council' that their proposal to merge public Hindustan Organic Chemicals (HOC) with Kochi Refineries Ltd (KRL) will be brought to the notice of the prime minister.

HOC, which has two units at Kochi and Rasayani (Maharashtra), is on the verge of privatisation. The Cabinet Committee for Disinvestment had invited financial bids last month launching the process of privatisation of HOC.

But the Save HOC Action Council members said the Kochi unit of HOC has been functioning extremely well, making a huge amount of profit every year since its inception in 1987, though the Rasayani unit incurred a huge loss for the last year.

The Action Council officials said the Kochi unit of HOC is fully dependent on KRL, as 98 per cent of the raw materials for the company was supplied from KRL. The excise tax amounting to Rs 60 crore per year can be saved if HOC is merged with the KRL, the employees pointed out.

The attempt to privatise Kochi HOC, a profit-making unit, will render thousands of people jobless, they said. Earlier in the day, the save HOC Action Council launched an agitation in front of the HOC gate demanding that HOC be retained as a public sector unit by merging it with KRL.