Adani completes Dhamra Port acquisition

The deal size, as announced by the company earlier stands at Rs 5,500 cr

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZL), part of the Adani Group, on Monday said it had completed the acquisition of Dhamra Port Company (DPCL) from L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (L&T IDPL) and Tata Steel (TSL).

The deal size of the 100 per cent stake stands at Rs 5,500 crore, in line with the company’s earlier announcement.

Dhamra Port was a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and L&T IDPL. It is a newly developed major port in Odisha’s Bhadrak district, about seven km from the old port by the same name. The agreement to develop the port was signed in April 1998.

APSEZL had entered into the agreement with L&T IDPL and TSL for share purchase to acquire the port on May 16.

The port commenced operations in May 2011, and has handled a total cargo of 14.3 million tonnes (mt) in 2013-14. It has two fully mechanised berths, 63 km of a private rail line connecting Bhadrak station to the main trunk line, and has already got environmental clearance for the development of 12 additional berths.

Naturally protected, with the ability to berth Capesize vessels and proximity to the richest mineral wealth in the country, make it distinctive from other ports.

Following the acquisition, the second phase of development will be initiated within 90 days and completion is being targeted within 30 months. This will allow Dhamra port to exceed 100 mt of cargo capacity by the year 2020, in turn allowing Adani Ports to fulfil its stated vision of becoming a 200-mt ports business before 2020.