Adani Plots Expansion of Overseas Port Empire After US Funding
- Conglomerate sees opportunities in East Africa, Southeast Asia
- China remains dominent in port development in Asia, Africa
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Standing before Sri Lankan officials and US diplomats in a five-star hotel in Colombo last week, Karan Adani boasted that a newly inked $553 million US government financing deal toward a port terminal being developed by his family’s conglomerate was a “reaffirmation by the international community.”
The announcement marked a welcome reprieve for India’s Adani Group following a damaging short-seller attack and a number of corporate fraud allegations leveled against it this year. It also signaled Washington’s endorsement for the port empire owned by Karan’s father and billionaire Gautam Adani — seen as a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — that would help curb China’s maritime influence in the Indian ocean.