Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ) expects to complete the acquisition of a 100 percent share in Gangavaram Port Limited (GPL) in the current fiscal quarter of 2022-23. APSEZ now owns 41.9 percent of GPL, which is anticipated to carry 66 million metric tonnes (MMT) of freight by FY25, more than double its existing capacity. In FY22, the port handled 30 MMT of cargo. For FY23, the goal is to handle cargo volumes exceeding 40 MMT. According to a press statement from the Port, a new container facility with a capacity of 0.8 MTEUs is currently being commissioned and is scheduled to be completed by July 22. Contracts for 150,000 TEUs of container freight handling have already been signed, with the number of TEUs likely to increase to 400,000 TEUs by FY25.
The growth is attributed to a number of factors, including the start of the NMDC plant at Nagarnar in FY23, rising Steel EXIM from companies like SAIL, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), JSW Steel, and JSPL with operations in the GPL hinterland, and significant momentum for agricultural products like wheat from North India and rice, tobacco, and chillies from the Guntur belt in Andhra Pradesh. The announcement stated that privatising RINL is a crucial growth accelerator in the medium future. The steel company, which contributes more than 20% of GPL’s business, is an anchor client, and the port receives 7 MMT of cargo from it.
The reality is that the Central government intends to privatise RINL in order to benefit the GPL, as privatisation would allow RINL to expand (today, only 6,000 acres of the 23,000 acres of land are used), resulting in a significant increase in cargo volumes at the GPL. Because GPL’s nearest competition, Vizag Port, is city-locked, GPL is well-positioned to benefit from the region’s growing industrial activity. It is a multi-purpose port on the east coast that is distinctive in terms of both natural and economic factors.
Because of its strategic location, it has the country’s deepest draught, and the nearby hills shield it from storms in the Bay of Bengal. While dry cargo such as coal, steel, and other minerals is now the port’s main cargo basket, with APSEZ (Adani Ports and SEZ) coming in and boosting the overall port capacity with the addition of an 800,000 TEU container terminal, container cargo is likely to take off.
