Andhra Pradesh News

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, India's largest private operator of ports, reported a 69% surge in quarterly profit on Tuesday, driven by strong cargo volumes. The company's consolidated profit for the quarter-ended Sept. 30 rose to 16.77 billion Indian rupees ($203 million). It had reported a profit of 9.95 bln rupees a year ago. Revenue from operations surged 33% to 52.11 billion rupees from a year ago. Adani Ports is part of the cooking oil-to-coal mining conglomerate Adani Group, which is run by Asia's richest person Gautam Adani.

Ports on India's eastern coast on Sunday restricted shipping activities and asked vessels to vacate anchorages ahead of a cyclonic storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday, port authorities and trade sources said.The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a "very severe cyclonic storm" would impact Indian states including Odisha and West Bengal, where key ports are located.Some regions are likely to receive heavy rainfall and wind speeds could reach 110 miles per hour…

India’s new deepwater gas production could be under pressure from low spot LNG prices, says Wood Mackenzie.Deepwater is expected to drive India’s gas production growth, adding over 1 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd) of new supply by 2023. However, only 15% or 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of this supply has been contracted to date. With market demand impacted by Covid-19, and low spot LNG prices expected to persist at least until 2022, the full commercialization of these…

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India’s largest private sector port operator, has agreed to buy a 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port Co. Ltd (KPCL) at an enterprise value of INR 13,572 crore (US $1.9 billion). KPCL is located in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, the state with the second largest coastline of in India, and is a multi-cargo facility which handled 54 MMT in FY19.This acquisition will accelerate APSEZ’s stride towards 400 MMT by 2025.Acquisition value of KPCL is approximately Rs.13,500 cr. The purchase consideration will be funded through internal accruals and existing cash balance.The credit metrics of APSEZ consolidated are not expected to change with this transaction. The net debt to EBIDTA of consolidated APSEZ Ltd.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) said on Friday it would buy a 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port Co Ltd (KPCL) for an enterprise value of 135.72 billion rupees ($1.89 billion).The deal will take its domestic market share to 27% from 22% on a pan-India basis, the company said in a filing to exchanges.The port, located in the south eastern state of Andhra Pradesh, is the second-largest private sector port in India and handled 54 MMT of cargo in 2019."APSEZ will target…

French power group Engie’s total renewable capacity in India now exceeds 1.5 GW. The company recently bagged a 200 MW onshore wind project in the state of Gujarat from Solar Energy Corporation of India.ENGIE is all set to sign a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Federal Government entity, SECI.Earlier, Engie won a 280 MWp solar project from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited. The project—part of the Raghanesda solar park—is currently under development. Under the scope of the project, the state power distribution company will enter into a 25-year PPA with the company.ENGIE also finalized commissioning one week ahead of schedule of 80% of the 338 MWp Kadapa solar PV project located in the state of Andhra Pradesh…

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), India’s largest private multi-port operator, reported a 41.45 percent surge in its consolidated net profit to INR 1,314.19 crore (USD 188.4million) for the quarter ended on March 31, 2019.However, its revenue fell 3.15 percent to INR 31 billion, said a stock exchange annoucement. Its coal volumes rose 30 percent year-on-year during the quarter, while the cargo volume increased 19 percent.The company also reported a record cargo throughput of 54 million metric tonnes in the three months ended March, according to the filing. Adani Ports in March had said it became the first Indian port operator to record a 200 MMT cargo movement.The Press Trust of India quoted Karan Adani…

A cyclone barrelled into eastern India on Friday, bringing down trees and power lines and "extensively" damaging the tourist town of Puri, but there were no early reports of casualties with a million people evacuated before it made landfall.Tropical Cyclone Fani, the strongest to hit India in five years, spent days building up power in the northern reaches of the Bay of Bengal before it struck the coast of the state of Odisha at around 8 a.m., the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.Howling winds gusting up to 200 kph (124 mph) whipsawed trees, uprooting scores, and driving rain impacted visibility, while streets were deserted in the state capital Bhubaneswar and Puri."Damage in Puri is extensive…

India has evacuated more than 300,000 people along its northeast coastline by boat, bus and train ahead of a severe cyclone due to make landfall on Friday, with many villagers piling household possessions on to trucks before fleeing their homes.Severe cyclonic storm Fani was churning up the Bay of Bengal about 320 km (198 miles) south-southwest of the Hindu temple town of Puri where special trains were put on to evacuate tourists and the beaches were empty.In total, about 1.2 million people are expected to be evacuated from low-lying areas of 15 districts in the eastern state of Odisha to cyclone shelters, schools and other buildings…

South Asia's APM Terminals Inland Services, operator of port and integrated inland service networks, is helping set up solar power plants in deep pockets of India.The global terminal network company is providing tailor-made logistics solutions to help overcome transport, technical and procedural challenges.The company is now offering a new end-to-end solution for major solar projects, which includes receiving cargo at the sea-port, facilitating customs inspection and clearance, multi-modal transportation to reach these isolated areas and destuffing at the site.“Back in 2015, solar power was just beginning to catch everybody's attention and imports from China were picking up at a tremendous pace.

India's Centre of Excellence in Maritime & Shipbuilding (CEMS), a well-funded startup in skill development for maritime and shipbuilding sector has announced thatits hi tech labs at Visakhapatnam are ready for starting orientation programmes for trainees. A seminar was held on 13th July 2018 in Vishakhapatnam to inform stakeholders about the facilities in the labs and to begin the process of training. This is shortly after CEMS announced the readiness of its Mumbai labs. CEMS is promoted by Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) in partnership with Siemens and Ministry of Shipping. Its Visakhapatnam campus is located in the Indian Maritime University (IMU) premises.

Responders are facing challenging monsoon season conditions as they work to salvage a containership that caught fire and grounded in the in the Bay of Bengal last month.The stricken containership SSL Kolkata remains aground in soft mud some 7.5 nautical miles off the Indian Sunderbans, Kolkata, West Bengal, after an explosion in one of the containers lit a fire on board the vessel on June 13.An oil spill response team from OSRL has arrived on scene and is the process of managing the counter pollution operations as responders battle challenging weather conditions…

India's largest port developer Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has agreed to pick up 97% stake in Marine Infrastructure Developer (MIDPL) from Larsen & Toubro at an enterprise value of Rs 1,950 crore ($284 million). According to a press release from the company, Kattupalli Port is one of the most modern ports in India emerging as Chennai’s New Gateway for EXIM trade in Chennai/Bangalore region and provides a whole new dimension of services with speed and sophistication. Amongst the many advantages of Kattupalli port is its unique location – it is located 30 kilometers towards north of Chennai and has connectivity with  hinterland of North Tamilnadu, Chennai,  Bangalore region and South Andhra Pradesh – locations which are highly industrialized.

The Indian Coast Guard said it has rescued all 22 crew members from a containership that caught fire around midnight in the Bay of Bengal.Coast Guard vessels arrived on scene Thursday morning and rescued all crew and the captain from Indian flagged SSL Kolkata, Coast Guard Commander Inspector General (NE) Kuldip Singh Sheoran said.SSL Kolkata was sailing from Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Kolkata when the fire broke out due to an explosion in one of the containers, local media reported.Sheoran said the ship is carrying 464 containers on board.With all crew evacuated…

In the past one year, Maersk Line, the global containerized division of the Maersk Group has enabled movement of multiple consignments of complex cargo out of India successfully, said a press release. Due to its global presence and network, the exporter network of India has been able to successfully reach out to newer geographies. Commenting on the achievement, recently appointed Managing Director for Maersk Line (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan), Steve Felder said, ”In the past 18 months or so, we have expanded our horizon in various new commodity categories. India is at an exciting growth path and with our focus on adding value to the customer’s end to end cold chain, the commitment to support the growth of the trade is very strong and visible.

Maersk Line India announced the introduction of Export and Import service offerings at Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh. This End to End service (Store Door) will enable customers in the region to reach global touch points. With this first time offering in Kakinada, Maersk Line will be able to containerize cargo at its origin, cut out wastage and complexities of dealing with multiple vendors and help move it to port in a cost-effective manner. This will have a direct bearing on rice farmers and growers in the region that would benefit from the ease that it brings and makes customers compete successfully in key rice export markets like Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East and the United States.

For promoting port-led industrialization, 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) covering all the Maritime States and Union Territories have been identified as part of the National Perspective Plan under the Sagarmala Programme. The Perspective Plans for all 14 CEZs have been prepared in consultation with relevant State Governments and Central Ministries. The idea behind developing the zones is to promote 'development of port-proximate industrial clusters'. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal are the other states where potential for coastal economic zones has been identified. Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said that port-led industrialization would provide impetus to the "Make in India" initiative and aid job creation.

A world class Center of Excellence in Maritime and Ship Building (CEMS) is being set up by Ministry of Shipping in collaboration with  Siemens and Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) under the Ministry’s flagship Sagarmala Program. CEMS will have  campuses at Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai, and will provide industry-relevant skill development, equip students with employable engineering and technical skills in the port and maritime sector and contribute to the Government of India’s ambitious Sagarmala programme. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation had announced this at an event in Cochin last week.

The Ministry of Shipping in India has taken up projects worth Rs 2,302 crore (USD 356million) for financial assistance under the Coastal Berth Scheme of the flagship Sagarmala Programme. The Ministry, after due appraisal in consultation with NITI Aayog and Department of Expenditure, has extended the period of the scheme for three years, upto 31st March, 2020 and expanded its scope to cover capital dredging at Major Ports and preparation of DPR for coastal berth project, in Oct 2017. The projects under Coastal Berth Scheme of the flagship Sagarmala Programme are distributed over eight states with the highest number of projects in Maharashtra (12 projects)…

Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will lay the foundation stone for the development of Muktyala to Vijayawada stretch of Krishna River (National Waterways – 4) today (October 03) in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He will also inaugurate approximately 415 km of National Highways projects worth Rs 1928.46 crores and lay the foundation stone  for another 250 km NH projects worth Rs 2539.08 crores. The Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Shri N Chandrababu Naidu will also be present on this occasion. As per MoU signed with Govt. The Vice President will lay the foundation stone for Phase- I on 3rd October, 2017.

India's Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) has received a proposal from United Shipbuilding Corporation of Russia for a strategic partnership, The Hindu reported. The report said that the Russian shipyard will be placing orders worth INR 200bln (USD 3.1bln)  immediately. The move came up for discussion when Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board CEO J. Krishna Kishore recently met HSL Chairman and Managing Director Rear Admiral L.V. Sarat Babu. HSL was brought under the control of Ministry of Defence in February 2010 due to its strategic location in close vicinity of Eastern Naval Command headquarters and Naval Alternate Operational Base coming up at Rambilli, about 60 km from the city.

Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company (AG&P) and Hindustan LNG (HLNG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to supply tolled gas to power stations in the East Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Under the agreement, AG&P will provide an integrated solution to deliver regasified LNG through a new LNG import terminal that AG&P will also design and build at the port in Andhra Pradesh. AG&P is a leading global integrator of LNG infrastructure solutions including LNG terminals and the supply chains that emanate from them. HLNG is a Hyderabad-based LNG import terminal development company. The MoU was signed at the Partnership Summit 2017 organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the signing was graced by Chief Minister Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu.

DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem met with the Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi at the 8th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit held in Ahmedabad, India. Discussions highlighted the immense potential of India’s growing economy and the nation’s maritime and inland trade. New opportunities resulting from the Prime Minister’s programmes such as Invest India, Digital India, Skill India and Made in India were also on the agenda, evidence of the new economic direction of the country. Mr. Bin Sulayem also joined a Global CEOs' meeting at the Summit chaired by the Prime Minister. He outlined the importance of the innovation and opportunities for investors in trade, logistics and the maritime sector.