Tamil Nadu Government News

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 government of India would soon build a major port at Colachel in the southernmost tip of Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of $3.2 billion (Rs 21,000 crore), envisaged to emerge as a southern gateway of transshipment in the country, reports PTI. He said that the Government of Tamil Nadu has given its consent to the Centre to facilitate developing the port. The port would be developed in three phases and it would take three years for completing the construction," he said.The minister, however, did not elaborate the roadmap as to whether the port would be built on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and did not talk about the monetary contribution by the Union government in establishing it.

India's Adani Group is likely to take over the operational and management control of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Kattupalli International Container Terminal near Chennai, reports Business Standard. Adani is in the final stage of getting into an arrangement with L&T to take over the terminal, which the Mumbai-based construction and engineering major built at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore ($645 million). It is learnt that the AP Moller–Maersk Group, a Danish business conglomerate, is also in the race to acquire the container terminal operations of the Katupalli port. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd is evaluating the option of taking over the operation and maintenance of other ports too. Also on its radar are ports in Gangavaram, Andhra Pradesh, and Karaikal, Puducherry.

Taking a serious view of the suspicious movement of the American-owned ship, 'MV Seaman Guard Ohio' in Indian waters, the Central Indian Government seeks a report from the Tamil Nadu Government on the vessel which was detained for carrying arms and buying diesel fuel without authorization in India, reports 'The Times of India'. The home ministry conveyed to the Tamil Nadu Government and other agencies involved in probing the case to find out details of the ship, the crew members and its armed guards and also its purpose of cruising in Indian territorial waters.

Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) has won a contract valued at about $240m to build four specialized ships for Dutch company RollDock BV. Indian companies are currently building about 245 ships worth more than Rs20,000 crore. Of this, about 70% are for overseas clients, who are placing orders at Indian yards as shipbuilding facilities in maritime strongholds such as , and are fully booked till 2011. Each ship will cost about $60m to build. These will be built at L&T’s shipyard at Hazira in and would take the firm’s order book to 12 ships. The Mumbai-based company launched its shipbuilding venture in May 2006 with an order for building four ships valued at Rs440 crore from Rotterdam-based Zadeko Ship Management CV (now known as ).

India’s largest engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) is negotiating with global shipping fleet owners to build ships worth over $1b, but the company cannot finalize these orders because it still hasn’t received the requisite clearances for its shipyard from a local government. L&T plans to set up the country’s biggest shipbuilding facility at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu in an effort to tap growing domestic and global demand for ships. The company will invest around Rs3,000 crore in the shipyard and port project and will build cargo ships, warships and offshore oil rigs. The shipyard at Kattupalli will be capable of building 25 big ships in a year and repair another 50-60 ships.

The Tamil Nadu Government signed an MoU with Goodearth Maritime for building a shipbuilding yard at Cuddalore. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi signed the agreement with the company's chairman at the secretariat. The company will begin the first phase of work at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crores and it will be completed in three years. This will provide direct employment to 5,000 people and indirect employment for 20,000 people, an official release said. The firm had sought the state government's permission for constructing a shipbuilding yard when its representatives met the chief minister on November 7, 2006. Source: The Hindu News