Ahmedabad, February 21 (IANS). Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) through its subsidiary Adani Gangavaram Port Limited (AGPL) is a joint venture between government company NMDC Limited and Vale S.A. (Vale Brazil) has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
This MoU was signed during the India-Brazil Business Forum Summit. Under this, a strategic framework will be prepared for the development of an iron ore blending facility and a dedicated Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Gangavaram Port.
The agreement was signed during the official visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to India. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was also present on the occasion, which reflects the strengthening of India-Brazil strategic partnership.
Ashwini Gupta, Whole-time Director and CEO, APSEZ, said that this collaboration reflects the shared commitment to develop future-oriented and resilient infrastructure to strengthen India’s position in the global supply chain. He said high-quality mineral logistics combined with advanced port capabilities will meet the needs of the industry as well as contribute to the country’s broader economic growth.
Under this collaboration, an integrated SEZ-based ecosystem will be developed, operated and managed at Gangavaram Port, which will include blending, value addition and commercialization of iron ore. The initiative aims to strengthen the iron ore export value chain on the East Coast of India and increase efficiency, scale and global competitiveness in mineral processing and trading.
With this development, the capacity of Gangavaram Port will increase to 75 million metric tonnes (MMT) and will become a major hub for iron ore exports to India and the region.
Gupta said the partnership with NMDC and Vale will help in setting up a modern, efficient and sustainable ecosystem for the iron ore sector on the east coast. Gangavaram Port is poised to become the first port in India to be able to handle ‘Valemax’ vessels – the world’s largest Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs) with a carrying capacity of up to 4,00,000 MMT.
The project will envisage development of fully mechanized berthing and cargo handling facilities, end-to-end yard management, blending operations, and loading-unloading of vessels, which will significantly improve the efficiency of the supply chain.
–IANS
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