May 20 - Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone - one of India's largest private port operators - has acquired Dhamra Port in Odisha in a deal worth approximately USD941 million.
Dhamra Port Co. Ltd, the previous operator of the port, is a joint venture between Larsen & Toubro and Tata Steel. More than one year of negotiation was needed to finalise the bumper deal.
Dhamra Port will now form part of the Adani Port and Special Economic Zone, and will be the group's first fully-fledged port on India's east coast.
Dhamra Port has secured approval to develop 12 new berths for handling breakbulk cargo, as well as oil, LNG, containers, food, grains and fertilisers. Development is scheduled to start in the next three months and is expected to finish by 2020. When fully operational the new berths will be able to handle approximately 100 million tonnes of cargo, taking the port's total handling capacity to in excess of 200 million tonnes.
