The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), taking the ₹13,572 crore deal a step closer to completion.
The proposed deal envisages acquisition of 75 per cent equity along with management control of Krishnapatnam Port Company by APSEZ.
Krishnapatnam Port runs a private deep-water port at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district.
The acquisition, announced on January 3 this year, gives APSEZ, India’s biggest private port operator, access to the country’s largest waterfront area (for a port) of 12.5 km and a transit storage area of 6,800 acres. The port started operations in 2008.
Krishnapatnam Port, owned by the Andhra Pradesh government, was given to the Hyderabad-based CVR Group for development and operations on a 30-year contract beginning September 2004. The port contract can be extended up to 50 years (30 plus 20 years).
Currently, the port has a draft of 18.5 metres, a depth that can accommodate full-loaded Capesize vessels of 200,000-tonne capacity