Adani Ports leads race for Karanja terminal, sources say

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. has emerged as the frontrunner to take over the Karanja container terminal near Mumbai, two people with direct knowledge of the process said. The terminal, operated by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, handles roughly 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units annually.

The government is expected to finalize the bid by the end of the current fiscal year. Adani Ports already runs the adjacent Nhava Sheva terminal and operates the largest private port network in India by cargo volume.

A takeover of Karanja would give Adani Ports control over a second major container gateway on India's west coast, consolidating its position in the country's busiest shipping corridor. The terminal's location near the Mumbai port cluster makes it a natural fit for the company's existing logistics infrastructure, one of the people said.

The port operator's stock has gained 18% over the past 12 months, outperforming the Nifty 50 index. Adani Ports reported a 24% rise in cargo volumes for the quarter ended March, driven by container and coal shipments.