Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ) will strengthen its position as numero uno port/terminal operator on the East Coast by winning the bidding for Karaikal Port in Puducherry for about ₹1,200 crore. There was no official announcement from the company, but sources familiar with the development confirmed the development.
APSEZ beat the rival bid of the Vedanta group, sources said. The Karaikal deal will add to APSEZ’s growing presence in India’s east coast, where it has acquired Krishnapatnam and Gangavaram ports in Andhra Pradesh over the past two years. It also operates ports/terminals at Dhamra, Kattupalli, Ennore and Visakhapatnam.
Sources said the bidding for Karaikal Port was conducted as per the guidelines of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The port’s lenders met last week to approve the proposal made by the Adani Group. The next step is to get approval from the National Company Law Tribunal for final approval.
Karaikal Port is an all-weather deep sea port developed in a Build, Operate and Transfer format under a public-private partnership. Commissioned in April 2009 and developed over an area of 600 acres, it handles a variety of cargoes such as coal, sugar, cement, fertilizers, project cargoes, agricultural commodities, liquid cargoes and containers.
Chennai-based Marg Ltd holds a 45 per cent stake in Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd (KPPL), while four private equity funds – Ascent Capital Advisors India Pvt Ltd, Jacob Ballas Capital India Pvt Ltd, Affirma Capital India and GIP India – together own 44 per cent cent bet.
In November 2021, Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Co Ltd sold the ₹2,059.24 crore debt along with the 11 percent equity it held in KPPL to Omkara Asset Reconstruction Pvt Ltd for ₹1,500 crore.
Omkara Assets (a financial creditor), initiating corporate insolvency resolution proceedings at the NCLT against KPPL (a corporate debtor), has claimed that an amount of Rs 2,804 crore is due and payable by KPPL. The application was accepted, the NCLT order issued in June 2022 said.
Adani’s presence on the East Coast stretches right from Dhamra in Odisha to Kattupalli in Chennai, with Karaikal Port to be added to the list. APSEZ has a total installed capacity of 538 mtpa – million tonnes per annum to handle all types of cargo. Of this, 335 mtpa is on the west coast and 203 mtpa on the east coast.
In the first half of the current fiscal, Adani’s West Coast ports handled 63 percent of cargo against 37 percent of East Coast ports.
Adani’s presence on the East Coast
Dhamra Port – Odisha (45 mtpa capacity)
The port is a 100 percent subsidiary of Adani Ports and SEZ. DPCL has been awarded a concession by the Government of Odisha to construct and operate a port north of the Dhamra estuary in Bhadrak district on a BOOST (Build, Own, Operate, Share and Transfer) basis for a total period of 34 years, including a period of 4 years for construction.
Gangavaram Port – Andhra Pradesh (64 mtna)
An all-weather deepwater port that connects vast hinterlands with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and multimodal connectivity.
Krishnapatnam Port – Andhra Pradesh (64 mtpa)
The all-weather, deep-draft port is capable of handling Capesize and Panamax vessels.
Kattupalli Port – Tamil Nadu (18 mtna)
The multi-cargo port located in North Chennai has a dedicated yard for direct port delivery, direct port entry for factory-filled/self-sealed containers loaded for export and flexible trolleys.
Ennore Terminal – Tamil Nadu (12 mtna)
The Adani Ennore Container Terminal (AECT) offers 24×7 accessible congestion-free roads for smooth movement of cargo and rail side services at the dock to various inland areas including Bengaluru.
Karaikal Port – Puducherry (above 10 mtpa)
The all-weather deepwater port has been developed in a Build, Operate and Transfer format under a Public-Private Partnership. It was put into operation in 2009.
Posted on December 2, 2022