Government-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Adani Ports, the country's largest private sector port operator, and Veritas India along with asset reconstruction company UV ARC have put in bids for the bankrupt Dighi Port, which was developed by IL&FS and Balaji Infra Projects.
The bids were submitted to the committee of creditors in Mumbai on Thursday.
Dighi Port was declared bankrupt and taken to National Company Law Tribunal in April after it failed to pay a consortium of 15 lenders led by Bank of India. The company owes banks Rs 2,607 crore. The other lenders in the consortium include Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank Central Bank of India and Indian Bank, among others.
This is for the first time that a major port company is making a bid for a private facility. The JNPT Board had given its approval to bid for the facility in September according to bankers.
A senior banker said, "We have received bids from three companies, JNPT, Adani Ports and Veritas in collaboration with UV ARC. The committee of creditors met in Mumbai today."
Dighi Port is part of the Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. It was developed as a greenfield port located in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, along the scenic Konkan coast. It has a 50-year concession agreement with Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) on a build, own, operate, share, transfer basis.
"Due to connectivity issues in the hinterland the port with a 30 million tonne capacity to handle bauxite and coal could only start partial operations, making it unviable to service the debt," said a banker.
JNPT had announced in March 2017 that it has excess cash reserves of Rs 4,500 crore, which it will utilise to purchase smaller port facilities as it is close to exhausting its capacity to handle cargo such as steel and coal at its current facility at Nhava Sheva near Mumbai.
Veritas is international trade and distribution company of chemicals, which recently launched a tank terminal to transport petrochemical goods in UAE. The acquisition of the port will be a natural extension of its distribution business. UV is one of the fastest growing ARCs having acquired a number of stressed assets with an experience in resolution of stressed assets.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) is the country's largest port developer and operator with 10 ports and terminals on both the western and eastern coasts under its belt. APSEZ represents 24% of India's total port capacity. It is developing a trans-shipment port at Vizhinjam, Kerala.
IN TROUBLED WATERS
- Dighi Port was declared bankrupt and taken to National Company Law Tribunal in April
- The company owes Rs 2,607 crore to a consortium of lenders led by Bank of India
