Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has put in an expression of interest (EoI) to develop a port at Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu at the site of the Nagarjuna Oil Refinery that is undergoing liquidation.

The planned six-million tonnes (mt) refinery includes a captive port and a power plant.

“We have put in an expression of interest for developing a port at Nagarjuna oil refinery which is undergoing liquidation. It has a port licence/concession along with the refinery, but they have not developed anything. Captive ports in Tamil Nadu are allowed to handle commercial cargo as well,” Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director of APSEZ, said during a quarterly earnings call on Wednesday.

APSEZ, according to Karan, is qualified for one of the bids in Chittagong port in Bangladesh. It is up to the government as to when to privatise it, he added.

Karan said that APSEZ has put on hold plans to set up a mega container port on Carey Island in Selangor State, Malaysia. “We are re-evaluating it, whether to make it or not,” he said. In 2017, APSEZ had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia’s MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd to begin feasibility study on building a mega container port on Carey Island.

APSEZ reported a net profit of ₹1,011 crore during the June quarter, 46 per cent higher than ₹691-crore profit it posted in the first quarter of the previous year.

Revenue jumped 16 per cent to ₹2,794 crore during the quarter (₹2,411 crore), riding on the back of strong ports volume growth and logistic operations.

APSEZ handled 57 million tonnes (48 mt) of cargo across its pan-India network of ports during the quarter, clocking a growth of 18 per cent.

The cargo volumes comprised 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with Mundra alone handling 1.18 million TEUs to register a growth of 3 per cent.

Mundra, the flagship port of APSEZ, grew by 16 per cent; Hazira by 20 per cent; Kattupalli by 16 per cent; and Dhamra by 43 per cent. Terminals at major port trusts such as Tuna, Vizag, Goa and Ennore registered a 35 per cent cargo volume growth, the company said in a statement.

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