Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani calls on President: Report

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Monday called on Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo, weeks after his company sealed a deal with the state-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to develop and run the strategic Colombo Port’s Western Container Terminal.

Mr. Adani, who is in the island nation on a private visit, called on President Rajapaksa, sources said, without disclosing the details of the meeting. The billionaire businessman accompanied by a delegation of 10 members flew into the island by two special flights on Sunday, according to the Daily Mirror.

Ahmedabad-headquartered Indian multinational conglomerate Adani Group last month entered into an agreement with the Sri Lanka government owned Port Authority to develop the Colombo Port’s West International Container Terminal. The $700 million Build-Operate-Transfer deal is the largest foreign investment ever in the port sector of the island nation.

Their bid to gain control of the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) failed due to mounting opposition from local port trade unions. The government cancelled the tripartite agreement with India and Japan on the ETC by offering the WCT.

The Colombo Port is one of the most preferred regional hubs for transhipment of Indian containers and mainline ship operators with 45 per cent of Colombo's transhipment volumes originating from or destined to an Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) terminal in India.

The Adani group is also exploring the possibility of investing in the island nation's energy and wind sector, a senior official from the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said on Tuesday.

"The Adani group has yesterday explored the possibility of investing in Sri Lanka’s wind and renewable energy sector," Nalinda Ilangakoon, the Vice Chairman of CEB, said while speaking to reporters here.

Mr. Ilangakoon said senior officials from the Adani group had visited the north eastern district of Mannar on Monday to inspect the wind power farm there. Mr. Adani and a 10-member delegation travelled to Mannar on a Sri Lanka Airforce helicopter.

The Board of Investment said the Phase II of the Mannar Wind Energy Park with a capacity of 100 MW is open on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis for potential investors.