Adani Ports To Spend Rs 10,000 Crore To Develop Dighi Port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. on Tuesday said it has completed the acquisition of Dighi Port for Rs 705 crore and would invest over Rs 10,000 crore in developing it as an alternate gateway to Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

JNPT is India's largest container port and is one of the 12 major ports in the country.

Adani Ports completed the acquisition of Dighi for Rs 705 crore on Feb. 15, 2021. It became twelth port to join Adani’s string of economic gateways across the eastern and western coast. This would help establish the company's footprint in Maharashtra, it said in a statement.

This would enable Adani Ports to service customers in Maharashtra whichincludes the highly industrial areas and development in the Mumbai and Pune regions, it said.

Adani Ports plans to invest over Rs 10,000 crore to develop the port into a multi-cargo port with world class infrastructure as well as investing in the development of rail and road evacuation infrastructure for seamless and efficient cargo movement, the statement said.

The company will strengthen and repair existing infrastructure and invest in development of facilities for dry, container, and liquid cargo.

Dighi Ports will evolve as an alternative gateway to JNPT and will invite and support the development of port-based industries on port land, the statement said.

As per the terms and requirements of the Resolution Plan, the transfer of concession rights has also been approved by the Maharashtra Maritime Board and Adani Ports have settled the dues of financial creditors, MMB, and other admitted costs and claims, it said.

The successful acquisition of Dighi port adds another milestone in the Adani Port's target of creating a string of ports to increase service coverage to the entire economic hinterland of India, Karan Adani, Chief Executive and Whole Time Director of Adani Ports said.

He said with the company's growth focus, experience, and expertise in turning around acquisitions it is confident of making Dighi port value accretive for stakeholders.

The investment and capacity augmentation plan will be aligned with policies of the Government of Maharashtra for development of ports, associated infrastructure, industrial and socio-economic development in the state, he added.

Adani Ports is the largest port developer and operator in India with 12 strategically located ports and terminals representing 24% of the country's total port capacity.

The 12 terminals include, Mundra, Dahej, Tuna and Hazira in Gujarat; Dhamra in Odisha; Mormugao in Goa, among others.