Adani Group acquires 97% stake in Kattupalli Port
New Delhi, June 28: Adani Ports on Thursday acquired 97 per cent stake in Marine Infrastructure Developer Pvt Ltd (MIDPL), the developer and operator of Kattupalli Port near Chennai.
Adani Ports, India's largest port developer and part of the Adani Group, said in a statement that it executed share purchase agreement with Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and MIDPL to acquire the stake.
Located 30 km towards north of Chennai, the Kattupalli Port is one of the most modern ports in the country which provides connectivity with hinterland of north Tamil Nadu, Chennai, the Bengaluru region and south Andhra Pradesh.
Karan Adani, CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, said the Tamil Nadu government and the Commerce Ministry gave approvals for the acquisition in record time and his firm was committed to make Kattupalli port one of the largest ports in southern India.
"We are going to start our construction to diversify the cargo of the port and will be adding 40 MMT (million metric ton) of new capacity in next three years," he said.
The company said in a statement that it plans to transform the port into a multi commodity port to handle cargo like containers, automobiles, break bulk, general cargo, liquid cargo and project cargo.
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India, France ink intergovernmental pact sealing Rs 64,000 cr deal to procure 26 Rafale jets
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New Delhi (PTI): India and France on Monday inked an intergovernmental agreement to procure 26 naval variants of Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 64,000 crore for the Indian Navy.
The pact provides for setting up of a production facility for Rafale fuselage as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities for aircraft engines, sensors and weapons in India, according to the defence ministry.
The agreement will also facilitate the transfer of technology for the integration of indigenous weapons in India, it said without elaborating.
The ministry said the delivery of the aircraft would be completed by 2030, with the crew undergoing training in France and India.
India is procuring the jets for deployment on board aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
Manufactured by French defence major Dassault Aviation, the Rafale-Marine is a carrier-borne combat-ready aircraft with proven operational capabilities in the maritime environment.
The sealing of the mega deal came three weeks after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the procurement.
Under the terms of reference, the delivery of the jets will have to start around five years after the signing of the contract.
In July 2023, the defence ministry accorded the initial approval for the mega acquisition following a series of deliberations and evaluation tests of the platform.
Under the deal, the Indian Navy will also get associated ancillary equipment including weapon systems and spares from Dassault Aviation.
The defence ministry said that the Rafale-Marine has commonality with the Rafale being operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
"Its procurement will substantially enhance joint operational capability, besides optimising training and logistics for the aircraft for both Indian Navy and IAF," it said in a statement.
"The induction would lead to the addition of a potent force multiplier to the Indian Navy's aircraft carriers, substantially boosting the nation's air power at sea," it said
The intergovernmental pact has been signed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and France's Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu.
The signed copies of the agreement, aircraft package supply protocol and weapons package supply protocol were exchanged by Indian and French officials, the defence ministry said.
