Adani Group expects its ports business to grow at a robust pace, with the Indian operations expected to double by volume in five years, said a senior company executive. Karan Adani, managing director of Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ) said the aim is to transform India’s leading port operator into a global ports hub by boosting the share of international traffic.
The ports business currently gets about 5% of its total volume from international operations, which it is aiming to double by 2030, said Adani.
The ports business has been seeing exponential growth in the past few years, and Adani expects the trajectory to continue. “Currently, the split between our ports and logistics segment is 70:30, and we expect the same to continue because while our logistics segment is growing, so is our ports segment, and that too at a much faster pace,” he said. Revenue from the ports segment grew to Rs 20,972 crore in FY24, from Rs 17,304 crore in the previous year. On the other hand, revenue from the logistics segment grew to Rs 2,079 crore from Rs 1,744 crore in the same period.
APSEZ is India’s largest port developer and operator with 15 ports across the West and East coast of the country. It also runs a port each in Colombo (Sri Lanka), Haifa (Israel), and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).
Adani attributed growth in the ports business to India’s thriving exports and imports demand, and the country’s growing potential globally. He said APSEZ has a target of handling 1 billion tonnes of cargo by 2030. It is projecting “roughly 900 million tonnes of that coming in from existing Indian ports,” with remaining 10% focused on international ventures, Adani said.
Explaining the company’s strategy, Adani said APSEZ expects “organic growth” at its existing ports. Capacity expansion is also a potential avenue for future development, as these regions continue to grow and require increased trade capabilities.
For inorganic growth, the company will continue to evaluate potential acquisition opportunities. “We see a lot of opportunities coming in from PPP (public-private partnership) projects as the government keeps moving towards mega ports such as Vadhavan port (in Maharashtra), there will be opportunities for everyone.”
Adani Ports has a multi-pronged approach for international growth including making India a hub for global trade routes.