The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has granted "in-principle" approval for the listing of state-run Kamarajar Port Ltd, a wholly owned unit of Chennai Port Authority, also state-owned, through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The Ministry's "in-principle" approval for the share sale was conveyed in writing last week to Kamarajar Port Ltd, India's only major port among the dozen owned by the Union government that is run as a company.

The management of the port located at Ennore near Chennai will now seek board and shareholders' approval before taking the process forward, multiple sources said. It will also enquire whether the IPO require approval from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), the government's asset sale agency.

"That process (for listing Kamarajar Port) is on; it will take about a year,"

Vijay Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, told ET Infra during a visit to Mumbai on February 6.

"The IPO plan is at a very nascent stage; typically, the process takes as much as 15 months," a second government official said.

The port management is currently drafting the request for proposal (RFP) documents, which are expected to be finalised in a month, for hiring bankers for the share sale, the official said. Bankers will be picked only after the board and shareholders back the plan, the official added.

After the government sold its 67 per cent stake in Kamarajar Port Ltd to the Chennai Port Authority for Rs 2,383 crore in 2020 under a government-to-government disinvestment deal, Kamarajar Port Ltd ceased to be a public sector undertaking and became a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Chennai Port Authority.

In FY25, Kamarajar port handled 48.41 million tonnes of cargo. Between April and December of this fiscal year, the port handled 36.28 mt of cargo.

In FY25, Kamarajar Port reported a net profit before tax of Rs 2837.54 crore on revenue of Rs 1,138.42 cro??.

Based on an implied equity valuation range of ?500-700 per share and outstanding shares of 30 crore, Kamarajar Port's market capitalisation works out to some
Rs 15,000-21,000 crore.

Kamarajar Port Ltd is India's only state-owned port set up under the Companies Act; the other 11 major ports (owned by the Union government) operate as authorities under the Major Port Authorities Act 2021, which replaced the erstwhile Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, for governing these ports.

It was originally set up as Ennore Port Ltd and named after its location at Ennore in Tamil Nadu, adjacent to Chennai Port. The port was renamed as Kamarajar Port Ltd in 2014 when the UPA was in power at the Centre.

Kamarajar Port was originally conceived primarily to handle the so-called 'dirty cargo (thermal coal) for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and to reduce pollution in Chennai.

The scope of the port - which has some 2,000 acres of land - was expanded to cater to the growing needs of the trade. Kamarajar Port's master plan includes 20 berths to handle a variety of bulk, liquid, automotive, and container cargo.

India has only three listed port companies - Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), the country's biggest private port operator; JSW Infrastructure Ltd and Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd, 43.01 per cent owned by APM Terminals Management B V, the port operating unit of Danish integrated logistics giant AP Moller-Maersk A/S.

Source: ET Infra. Com 

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