Billionaire Gautam Adani is exploring new ground, with plans to build a state-of-the-art port in Vietnam as part of his ambitious global expansion.
The Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. venture has reportedly received « approval in principle » from the Vietnamese government for development on greenfield land in Da Nang, the company’s chief executive Karan Adani said.
The project, still in its early stages, will include container terminals and multipurpose berths to handle various cargoes, with investment details yet to be finalized, according to a Bloomberg report.
It will be the fourth international port for the Adani group, joining its counterparts in Haifa, Israel, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Last Friday, Adani’s new mega port in southern India welcomed its first mother ship, signaling the company’s determination to aggressively expand and capture a larger share of international maritime trade, a domain currently dominated by China.
“Our goal is to make India a maritime hub,” said Karan, Gautam Adani’s eldest son. “We are focusing on countries with high manufacturing output or high population, which generate high consumption. Our goal is to increase export volumes in these regions.”
As India’s largest port operator, Adani Ports currently derives around 5% of its volume from international operations and aims to double this to 10% by 2030. The company is eyeing opportunities in the Middle East, South East Asia, East Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam and Cambodia, regions that are critical to India’s trade.
Adani has also doubled down on its investment in Vizhinjam port in southern India, committing $2.4 billion to accelerate its expansion and attract some of the world’s largest ships. « We plan to invest $2.4 billion in the Vizhinjam international transshipment terminal by 2028, » Karan said at an earlier press conference.
The goal is to increase the port’s capacity fivefold to 5 million TEUs, surpassing the initial plan of 3 million TEUs. Adani has accelerated the expansion timeline from 2045 to 2028 to better compete in the international maritime trade sector, currently led by China.
Strategically located near the southern tip of India, Vizhinjam is close to crucial international shipping routes and has some of the deepest shipping channels in the world, making it ideal for berthing large vessels. This strategic positioning and significant investment underscores Adani’s vision to transform India’s maritime infrastructure and strengthen its global trade footprint.
