Adani eyes Rs. 3,725-cr port project in AP

The Adani Group is inching closer to make its presence felt in the port sector in Andhra Pradesh as it turned out to be the lone company to submit financial bids for developing the minor Bhavanapadu Port in Srikakulam District at an investment of Rs. 3,725cr, said sources, adding that the ports department of the three firms which had earlier submitted technical bids for developing the port, Gangavaram Port and Krishnapatnam Port backed out of the project leaving only the Adani Group to submit the financial bids. A senior ports department official said, claiming that the evaluation committee will review the bid and decide on whether to go ahead with them as the developer for the project. AP government official said that the government will take a decision after evaluating the proposal submitted by the company. The decision would be taken based on the revenue share that has been offered to the state government in the proposal. According to documents submitted by the state to environment and forests ministry for obtaining environment clearance, the proposed Bhavanapadu Port is expected to have a total capacity of 30.57 million tons. The total berth proposed is 14 with five berths in the first phase and the remaining nine berths in the second phase. The state government intends to develop Bhavanapadu Port with the support of a private developer to handle all types of cargo such as bulk, break bulk, container, and liquid materials.