September 07, 2008

L&T plans more port ventures

BS reported that Larsen & Toubro has decided to build 2 new ports at a combined cost of INR 3,000 crore.

The lead company for the ports will be its subsidiary L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd. L&T will build the ports, operate it for a while and then transfer it to L&T IDPL. Consequently, the new ports, like shipbuilding, will not sit on L&T’s books though it will reap the benefits as the constructor of the projects.

L&T is already involved in the building of a port at Dhamra in Orissa in partnership with TATA Steel and will be owned jointly and another at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh in conjunction with the state government. At Haldia in West Bengal, it extended the port and built a new berth.