On Friday, Essar group announced a USD 2.4-billion (Rs 19,000 crore) agreement to sell certain ports and power infrastructure assets to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AM/NS). These assets belong to the Hazira steel plant in Gujarat. In 2019, the steel unit was taken over by AM/NS via the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) route.

Essar said that the deal also envisages a 50:50 joint venture with AM/NS for building a 4 million tonne a year LNG import terminal at Hazira. The deal covers port assets (in Odisha, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh), two power plants at Hazira and also an electricity transmission line.

AM/NS has reported that the deal covers a 25-million tonne per annum capacity jetty at a deep draft bulk port terminal at Hazira. It includes a 16 million tonne all-weather, deep draft terminal at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and a 12 million tonne deep-water jetty at Paradip, Odisha.
The deal also covers a 270 MW multi-fuel power plant and a 515 MW gas-based power plant at Hazira, having a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with the adjacent steelmaking facility.

Headquartered in Surat, AM/NS India is an integrated flat carbon steel manufacturer with a crude steel capacity of 9.0 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Manufacturing facilities of the company include iron making, steelmaking and downstream facilities spread across India. In 2019, AM/NS acquired Essar Steel for around Rs 42,785 crore. The acquisition had given it the right to the licence of port operations.