Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd plans to ramp up its investment to INR100 billion ($1.2 billion) to boost its southern India transshipment container port, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as it looks to lure some of the world’s largest ships, reports Bloomberg. The investment in the first-of-its-kind Vizhinjam port in the state of Kerala is part of the second phase of the project that is expected to finish by 2028, said people familiar with the Adani Group’s plans who did not want to be identified as the details are not announced.
It is also wooing the biggest container lines such as MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, AP Moller -- Maersk A/S, and Hapag-Lloyd to call in at the port, they added. The port, which is located near the southernmost tip of India, close to the international shipping routes and has deepest shipping channels, is set to receive the first container vessel from Maersk on July 12 as part of a trial run in the 800-meter container berth. The Vizhinjam port that was inaugurated in October is an effort by billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate to put India on the map for the world’s biggest container ships and grab a bigger slice of the international maritime trade currently dominated by China.
Such containers so far have been skipping India because the country’s harbors weren’t deep enough to handle the vessels, and docked instead at ports such as Colombo, Dubai and Singapore. The funds will be used to increase the length of.