Adani group to expand SIL's Sanghipuram port capacity to handle large ships

The Adani group will make investments to expand the captive port capacity of Sanghipuram to handle vessel sizes of 8,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage), said Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) CEO Karan Adani on Thursday.

Adani Group firm Ambuja Cements on Thursday said it will acquire a majority stake in Sanghi Industries Ltd (SIL), one of the leading cement manufacturers from western India, at an enterprise value of Rs 5,000 crore.

As per the deal, Ambuja Cements, a part of Adani Cement, which holds the cement business of port-to-power conglomerate Adani group, will acquire 56.74 per cent shares of SIL from its existing promoter group - Ravi Sanghi & family.

Sanghi Cement has a manufacturing unit at Sanghipuram in Gujarat's Kutch district, which is also connected with a captive jetty at Sanghipuram. It has a 6.6-MTPA (Million Tonnes per annum) capacity clinker plant and a 6.1-MTPA capacity cement Plant.

"We will also invest in deepening and expanding the captive port capacity in order to accommodate larger vessel sizes of 8000 DWT," said Karan Adani speaking after the acquisition of Sanghi Industries.

Bulk terminals and grinding units will be created along the western coast to enable the movement of clinker and cement through the sea route at the lowest possible cost.

"Our vision is to produce lowest cost clinker in the country at Sanhipuram and then transport this clinker as well as bulk cement through coastal roads to the markets of Saurashtra South Gujarat, Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Karnataka and kerala," he said, adding "Synergies with the assets of Adani ports will help us in implementation of this strategy."

He further said that with the right implementation, he is very "confident" that Adani Group will be the lowest-cost supplier of cement in all of these markets.

Sanghi Cement's Sanghipuram unit is India's largest single-location cement and clinker unit by capacity, with a captive jetty and captive power plant.

The deal would help Adani Cement Ltd (ACL), the second biggest manufacturer after UltraTech, to expand its capacity to 73.6 MTPA (Million Tonnes per annum) in the segment, in which it had entered last September, after the acquisition of majority stakes in Ambuja Cement and its subsidiary ACC Ltd.

"The acquisition of Sanghi industries will help Ambuja to strengthen its market leadership and increase its cement capacity to 73.6 MTPA from the current capacity of 67.5 MTPA," he said.

With the ongoing capex of 14 MTPA and commissioning of 5.5 MTPA cement capacity at Dhaez and Ametha in the second quarter of FY23, the Adani group's capacity will be 100.1 MTPA by 2025.

"Ambuja Cement's goal of 140 MTPA capacity by 2028 is well on track. And with this acquisition, we are very confident that we will achieve this ahead of time," he added.