While Congress prince Rahul Gandhi keeps ranting against wealth creators in the country, dragging the name of corporate giants Ambani and Adani in every speech and statement to derive negative public sentiments against the private sector, the Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has won a bid to develop the Dighi Port Limited (DPL) in Maharashtra.
According to the reports, the APSEZ has acquired the Dighi Port Limited for Rs 705 crore, which was under insolvency proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) since 2018. The Adani Ports has already obtained the concession rights that is approved by the Maharashtra Maritime Board. Earlier, the Maharashtra Maritime Board, under the Maharashtra government, was tasked with Dighi Port’s administration.
The port, promoted by industrialist Vijay Kalantri, had gone bankrupt with a debt of Rs 3,098 crore to lenders. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) ed by Bank of India had received bids from JNPT, APSEZ and Veritas Consortium, and the APSEZ bid was selected by it.
Following the acquisition, Adani Ports can now service customers in Maharashtra, which includes the highly industrial areas in the Mumbai and Pune regions.
DPL is the 12th port to join APSEZ’s string of economic gateways across India’s eastern and western coast. This will establish the company’s footprint in Maharashtra, which has one of the largest coastlines in the country.
Adani Port to invest Rs 10,000 crore to develop Dighi port
In addition to this, Adani Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd also plans to invest over Rs 10,000 crore to develop the port into a multi-cargo port with world-class infrastructure. Adani ports will also develop rail and road infrastructure for seamless and efficient cargo movement in the Dighi Port.
Adani Ports Ltd will also strengthen and upgrade the existing infrastructure and invest in the development of facilities for the dry, container, and liquid cargo.
It is expected that DPL will be developed as an alternative gateway to JNPT and will invite and support the development of port-based industries on port-land. The development of another port in Maharashtra will spur further investments across various industries and provide a tremendous boost to Maharashtra’s industrial development and growth. These investments will contribute to employment generation and socio-economic development of the port’s hinterland.
Karan Adani, CEO and Whole Time Director of APSEZ said, “The successful acquisition of DPL adds another milestone in the Adani Port’s target of creating a string of ports to increase service coverage to the entire economic hinterland of India. With our growth focus, experience, and expertise in turning around acquisitions, we are confident that making DPL value accretive for all our stakeholders. Our investment & capacity augmentation plan will be aligned with policies of the Government of Maharashtra for development of ports, associated infrastructure, industrial and socio-economic development in the state”.
Rahul Gandhi abuses Adani even as MVA govt signs deal with Adani
Interestingly, the decision to hand over Dighi Port by the Maharashtra government to Adani comes at a time when Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi has constantly been abusing India’s private sector. Rahul Gandhi, who has been portraying the private players in the country as land grabbers and profiteers, has been relentlessly attacking the likes of Ambanis and Adanis for investing in various development projects across the country.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has time and again claimed that only Adani and Ambani (Adani Group chief Gautam Adani and Reliance Group chief Mukesh Ambani) benefit from all the reforms the Modi government brings in. PM Modi, in his recent address in the Parliament, had criticised such baseless attacks on wealth creators and entrepreneurs. He had stated that the private sector brings jobs and prosperity and the political leaders need to respect that.
