Mumbai: As part of its expansion drive, Gautam Adani’s port company, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), is contemplating a plan to build a port in Vietnam. The firm is expanding its operation and developing infrastructure overseas with a view to increasing trade opportunities, said media reports on Saturday (July 13).
The APSEZ is learned to have received an ‘in-principle’ consent from the Vietnamese government for setting a new greenfield development in the country. The project is at an early stage of planning and the total investment required has not been finalized but the development will have container terminals and multipurpose berths to handle different types of cargo coming into the port, said a senior functionary of APSEZ.
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The Adani group has already proposed to double its investments to $2.4 billion in its new mega port in South India, to draw in the biggest container ships trading across the world.
The stock APSEZ received a positive response from the market after the company disclosed its Vietnam port plan. Its shares closed 0.12% higher at ₹1486.40 after Friday’s trading session, as compared to ₹1484.55 on the previous day. Adani Enterprises’ shares closed 0.45% lower at ₹3063.95, as compared to ₹3077.95 on the previous day.
Adani Group’s ports expansion drive
So far, the Adani group has three international port infrastructures, including Colombo Port in Sri Lanka and Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The plan to build the port in Vietnam came after the group operationalised Haifa port in Israel, making it the 4th international port in Adani’s arsenal.
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APSEZ’s new mega-domestic Vizhinjam port in Kerela saw the arrival of the San Fernando cargo mothership recently. The company seeks to increase the pace of expansion of its port facilities to take control of a bigger share in international maritime trade, which is currently dominated by China.
Chief executive officer (CEO) of APSEZ Karan Adani said that the company was targeting countries that are high on manufacturing or high on population, which will lead to high consumption. “We are focusing on export volumes in these countries,” he was quoted saying in a media report. The idea is to make India a maritime hub,” he said.
Adani’s group has become the largest operator of ports in India and the firm seeks to increase its international operations, which currently stand at 5% from international. It is working on plans to increasing the port business to 10% 2030. The ports giant is also exploring opportunities in the Middle East, South East Asia, East Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam and Cambodia from where the trade business opportunities come to India, as per the report.
