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Colombo Port West Container Terminal: Adani gets 51%, Keells 34%, Ports Authority 15%
The letter of intent for the West Container Terminal (WCT) of the Colombo Port was signed and accepted along with the initialed Build, Operate and Transfer Agreement on May 3, authoritative sources said.
A consortium company has also been incorporated called West Container International Terminal (Pvt) Ltd. The final shareholding will be 51 percent for Adani Ports, 34 percent for John Keells Holdings (JKH) PLC and 15 percent for Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
The parties were given 180 days from May 3, 2021, to fulfill conditions precedent, including financial closure and development work, the sources said.
In March, Adani Ports announced that it has partnered with JKH to develop WCT on a build, operate and transfer basis for a period of 35 years. It said the terminal will be boosted to reach a capacity of 3.5mn TEUs.
The quay has a length of 1400 meters and an alongside depth of 20 meters. Adani had earlier eyed the East Container Terminal to be developed along with Sri Lanka and Japan but this was scuppered by union protests and the Government’s desire for the SLPA to manage the facility itself.
Japan was to have lent US$ 500mn at an interest rate of 0.1% to Sri Lanka to complete the second phase of the facility, which includes an 800m berth. But the Government’s new policy is to avoid loan-based projects.