Adani to buy L&T’s Kattupalli Port

Ahmedabad: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), India’s largest port developer and operator, on Monday said it will acquire the Kattupalli Port in Tamil Nadu from L&T Shipbuilding Ltd (LTSB) a subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro Ltd. The company did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.

Adani Ports said in a stock exchange filing that its subsidiary Adani Kattupalli Port Pvt. Ltd has entered into an in-principle agreement for the strategic acquisition. The transaction is subject to necessary approvals from the government of Tamil Nadu and the central government, and the port being demerged from LTSB, it said.

Currently, L&T operates both the port and a shipyard under LTSB.

Kattupalli is a deep-water all weather port with an international container terminal located 35 km from Tamil Nadu and well-connected to the hinterland. The port commenced commercial operations in January 2013 and has two berths with a total quay length of about 710 meters. The berths are equipped with six quay cranes and are designed to handle container, dry bulk and break-bulk cargo. Currently, the port has a cargo handling capacity of 1.2 million TEUs per annum. Environmental approval for further expansion is already in place.

Speaking on the development, Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group said, “The Kattupalli agreement is yet another step by us to continue to enable the development of the port infrastructure that is critical for our country. The Kattupalli port is a strategic complement to our Ennore Container Terminal which is getting commissioned next year.”

The Kattupalli Port is located adjacent to and north of Ennore Port, where APSEZ is developing the Ennore container terminal.

Both these ports are expected to together reduce congestion in the region and aid the growth of Tamil Nadu and the surrounding regions.

Earlier in May 2014, L&T group company L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd and Tata Steel Ltd sold their stake in Dhamra port in Odisha to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.

Larsen & Toubro Limited