Adani Ports Shares Surge 2% After Securing Kolkata Port Terminal Contract

India's largest port operator, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), saw its shares surge by up to 2.08% on Friday, reaching an intraday high of Rs 1,381 per share. This rise followed the company's announcement that it had secured a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the operation and maintenance of a container terminal at Kolkata Port from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority, Kolkata (SMPK).

The Netaji Subhas Dock, the largest container terminal on India's eastern coast, handled approximately 0.63 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in FY24.

In a statement to the exchange, Adani Ports expressed its satisfaction: “We are pleased to inform you that the company has received a letter of intent for operation and maintenance of the container terminal at Kolkata Port.”

Under the contract, Adani Ports will be responsible for the deployment, operation, and maintenance of equipment for container handling operations within the Kolkata Dock System (KDS) at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port. The contract agreement is expected to be signed within 45 days of the LoI/LOA issuance by SMPK.

Ashwani Gupta, whole-time director and CEO of APSEZ, commented on the development, saying, “The award of the O&M contract for container handling facilities at Netaji Subhas Dock to APSEZ underlines our commitment to developing ports and logistics infrastructure across the country and highlights the potential we see in West Bengal. We will leverage our over two decades of experience in efficiently managing various container terminals within India and abroad, benefiting customers and the people of the state.”

Established in 1998, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited is part of the Adani Group and operates across 13 domestic ports in seven maritime states: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha.

BS