Gujarat-based Adani Group,led by brothers Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani, has bagged the project to develop Greenfield Bhavanapadu port, Andhra Pradesh. The authorities have prophesied the port, located in the north-coastal district of Srikakulam, will serve the hinterlands of Odisha, Chattisgarh and other districts in Andhra Pradesh. The project will also aid the expansion of the company’s footprint in south on the eastern seaboard.
Primarily, there were three companies who submitted the financial bid, but finally Adani Group became the sole-bidder. However, before finalizing the proposed project, the state government’s empowered group of secretaries successfully negotiated with the country’s leading private ports operator on a higher revenue share, which was earlier set at 0.5 per cent.
“As stated by the amended proposal, Adani Group would hand out 2.3 per cent of the port revenues as a share to the government for the first 30 years, 4.6 per cent share for the next 10 years, followed by 9.2 per cent revenue share thereafter,” Ajai Jain, principal secretary, department of Infrastructure and Investments said.
The Bhavanapadu seaport will play an important role in fostering Adani Group’s coal and logistics business. The group will be conferred 2,500 acres of land by the Centre, along with the harbor, which will facilitate logistics and engineering infrastructure. The preliminary phase of the project will feature the development of five berths. As per the reports, project concessionaire is likely to invest over Rs 30 billion on port development and other infrastructural developments.
In 2016, India’s largest multi-port operator, Adani Ports, forayed into South India by acquiring the Kattupalli port. The deal was locked for Rs 20 billion by L&T Ship Building Limited in Tamil Nadu.
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Adani Group, which operates three ports, two terminals, and a state-of-the-art logistics park on the West coast, has already built a coal-handling terminal at Vizag port. It is run on build–operate–transfer (BOT) basis, with an investment of Rs 400 crore.
Adani Group had demonstrated an interest to build a port-cum industrial park project in Srikakulam district almost a decade ago. The company has successfully revived its endeavors towards, when the Andhra government announced the bidding process, shortly after the state bifurcation.
