MUMBAI: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has returned a coal handling terminal to Visakhapatnam Port Authority a few years into a 30-year contract after the State-run port paid Rs. 155 crore last week per the interim order of an arbitration tribunal.

This is a rare instance of APSEZ returning a cargo terminal to a port authority after it turned unviable due to changed business conditions.   

India’s biggest private port operator, though, is pursuing the arbitration case and mounted a separate legal challenge in the Andhra Pradesh High Court to establish whether the terminal was “first” terminated by it or the port authority. This aspect has a key bearing on APSEZ’s chances to participate in tenders issued by State-run ports for cargo-handling contracts in view of a tender condition for qualification.