APSEZ Set to Secure Dry Bulk Cargo Handling Berths at Paradip Port.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) is set to secure the rights to mechanise and operate two dry bulk cargo handling berths at state-owned Paradip Port in Odisha for 30 years after emerging as the highest bidder.

APSEZ quoted a royalty of ₹122.30 per tonne for the CQ 1 and CQ 2 berths, according to port sources. The 18 million tonne (MT) capacity project is estimated to cost ₹981.96 crore.

The company outbid Essar Ports, which quoted ₹119.50 per tonne, Jindal Steel at ₹117 per tonne and a consortium of Bothra Shipping Services, Kakinada Seaports and Ripley & Co Stevedoring & Handling, which quoted ₹115.10 per tonne.

The project involves mechanising the two berths as a common-user public-private partnership (PPP) facility for handling dry bulk cargo. The berths have a combined length of 485 metres, a water depth of 15 metres and a storage area of 4 lakh square metres.

The win marks APSEZ’s entry into Paradip Port, India’s second-largest state-owned port by cargo volumes. Paradip Port Authority handled 156.45 million tonnes of cargo in FY26.

APSEZ currently operates 15 multi-commodity ports in India with a combined capacity of 653 MT, including 355 MT on the west coast and 298 MT on the east coast. Its ports handled a combined 500 MT of cargo in FY26. The company also operates four international ports.

The Paradip project will further strengthen APSEZ’s presence on India’s eastern coast, where it already operates ports and terminals at Haldia, Dhamra, Gopalpur, Gangavaram, Krishnapatnam, Kattupalli, Ennore and Karaikal.

The company plans to expand the capacity of its domestic ports network to 1 billion tonnes by 2030, backed by an investment of ₹63,000 crore. APSEZ has set a target of handling 850 MT of cargo by then.

The mechanisation and operation of the CQ 1 and CQ 2 berths is part of the Union government’s National Monetisation Pipeline, under which operational public assets are offered to private operators through the PPP model.

Paradip Port Authority currently operates 17 cargo berths, three single-point moorings and one roll-on/roll-off jetty. Its approach and entrance channel has a water depth of 17.1 metres and can accommodate ships with a length overall of up to 300 metres.