MSC to buy 49% stake in Adani's Vizhinjam port for $1.4 billion

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said Switzerland’s MSC Group would buy a 49% stake in Vizhinjam port for about $1.397 billion, in a deal that values Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited at roughly $2.85 billion. Terminal Investment Limited, MSC’s port investment arm, will take the stake, while Adani keeps 51% control if the transaction clears regulatory approvals.

The sale turns Vizhinjam into a test case for India’s push to build a transshipment hub on its own coast instead of sending more cargo through foreign ports. Adani described the investment as the largest foreign private commitment in Indian domestic port infrastructure, a label that reflects both the size of the cheque and the strategic weight of the location. Vizhinjam is India’s first dedicated transshipment port, about 16 km south of Thiruvananthapuram, and the Kerala Maritime Board says it sits just 10 nautical miles from the east-west international shipping route.

The port has already moved beyond the planning stage. Adani said the first mother ship arrived on 12 July 2024, and the port was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 May 2025 after Phase 1 was completed. Kerala government documents say Phase 1 had an installed capacity of 1 million TEUs and that Vizhinjam had handled 1.34 million TEUs and 670 ships through 31 December 2025. Those same documents say capacity is planned to triple to 3 million TEUs by 2028, while other reports have put the expansion target as high as 5.7 million TEUs by December 2028.

MSC’s arrival also deepens an existing commercial relationship with Adani. The two groups already work together through joint ventures at Mundra and Ennore, making Vizhinjam their third collaboration. For MSC, one of the world’s largest container shipping groups, the stake offers a larger foothold in Indian maritime infrastructure; for Adani, which has built ports into a core growth business across a network spanning 19 ports and terminals globally, including 15 in India, it adds an operator with global shipping reach and a direct interest in filling the terminal.

The deal has also drawn political scrutiny. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the significance of the investment for Vizhinjam but called for due diligence, a reminder that major Adani transactions continue to face close attention even when they are framed as infrastructure milestones. If approved, the transaction would strengthen Kerala’s role in India’s maritime ambitions and could start shifting more regional shipping traffic toward Vizhinjam’s berths.