JSW Infrastructure will sign a deal to buy Chennai-based Chettinad Builders for about Rs 960 crore, which will give it control over three bulk cargo handling terminals. Of the three bulk cargo handling terminals, two are with Kamarajar Port and one with the New Mangalore Port Trust. The deal is likely to be funded by the IndusInd Bank. The cargo terminals being acquired include a 10 million tonne common user coal handling terminal at Kamarajar Port, a two million tonne multi-cargo terminal also at Kamarajar Port and a 10 million tonne common user coal terminal at the New Mangalore Port Trust. The board of Kamarajar Port and the board of trustees of the New Mangalore Port Trust have separately approved the proposals filed by Chettinad Builders seeking their no-objection certificates to sell the stakes in the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) operating the terminals to JSW.
The board of JSW Infrastructure approved the acquisition in October 2020. The deal will take the group a step closer to its target of building port capacity to handle 200 million tonne of cargo by 2022.