Adani group firm Mundra Port has commenced operations at its 20-million tonnes port at Dahej in Gujarat, the company said today.
The port will cost a total of Rs 1,150 crore, almost half of which has already been infused.
"Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) announces commencement of operations of the dry bulk cargo port at Dahej," the company said in a statement here.
The port is being set up by Adani Petronet Port Pvt Ltd in a joint venture with Petronet LNG at a cost of Rs 1,150 crore. Petronet, which owns 24 per cent in the joint venture, is already operating an LNG import terminal at Dahej, along with a berth for ships.
The operations at the port started with the arrival of the first ship (M V Sesa Star Cosmos) today containing a consignment of coal docks at Dahej.
"With the commencement of operations at Dahej, it would be the second operational port in Gujarat for MPSEZ and the only one which has become operational in the private port category in the last 4-5 years," it further said.
The infrastructure sector-focused group is increasingly looking to acquire coal assets overseas to feed its power generation capacity.
Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the group led by billionaire Gautam Adani, had posted an over three-fold jump in profits to Rs 407 crore for the first quarter of the current fiscal, mainly due to strong performance by its non-core businesses including the power segment.
Earlier this month, Adani Enterprises, which is the country's largest coal importing company, sealed a ASD 3 billion deal to buy the coal assets of Australia's Linc Energy, to support its plan to expand power generation capacity to 20,000 MW by 2020.
It was recently awarded preferred proponent status for developing the Dudgeon point terminal in Macay, Queensland, Australia.
The company has also entered a $1.65 billion tripartite pact with an Indonesian firm to source coal. Its subsidiary, Adani Power, is working on 4,620-MW project in Mundra, Gujarat. It has also announced two power projects in the state, at Hazira and Dahej.
