Adani Ports & SEZ Acquires Karaikal Port For INR 1,485 Crore Karaikal Port is an all-weather deep-water port that was developed on the build, operate and transfer (BOT) format under public-private partnership (PPP) by the government of Puducherry
By Shrabona Ghosh •
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Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), has completed the acquisition of Karaikal Port Private Limited (KPPL) pursuant to NCLT approval.
Karaikal Port is an all-weather deep-water port that was developed on the build, operate and transfer (BOT) format under public-private partnership (PPP) by the government of Puducherry.
"The acquisition of Karaikal Port is another milestone in consolidating our position as India's largest transport utility. With acquisition of Karaikal port APSEZ now operates 14 ports in India.
APSEZ will spend further INR 850 crore over time to upgrade infrastructure in order to reduce the logistics cost for the customers. We are envisaging to double the capacity of the port in the next five years and also add a container terminal to make it a multipurpose port," said Karan Adani, CEO and whole-time director, APSEZ.
The Karaikal Port was commissioned in 2009, and was developed in Karaikal district of the Union Territory of Puducherry, around 300 kilometers south of Chennai. It is the only major port between Chennai and Tuticorin, and its strategic location allows the port easy access to the industry-rich hinterland of Central Tamil Nadu.
The port gets a 14-meter water draft and has land area of over 600 acres. Its existing infrastructure includes five operational berths, three railway sidings, mechanized bulk cargo handling system including mechanized wagon-loading and truck-loading systems, two mobile harbor cranes and a large cargo storage space that includes open yards, 10 covered warehouses and four liquid storage tanks. With a built-in cargo handling capacity of 21.5 MMT, the port primarily handles cement, fertilizer, limestone, steel & liquids.
Adani Ports reported a 14 per cent decline in consolidated net profit. The net profit stood at INR 1,337 crore for the quarter ended December 2022 compared with INR 1,535 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. In the port business segment, the new additions include Haifa Port Company in Israel, new container terminal at Gangavaram, liquid storage tanks at Katupalli, 5 MMT LNG terminal at Dhamra in April 2023 and Karaikal Port.
During Q3 FY23, APSEZ handled 24 per cent of the country's total cargo. Port EBITDA grew 20 per cent Y-o-Y to INR 9,562 crore, on the back of strong improvement in realizations and cargo volume growth. With a port EBITDA margin at 70 per cent, APSEZ continues to be one of the most profitable port companies globally, said the company in the stock exchange filing earlier.
