New Delhi: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has completed the acquisition of bankrupt Karaikal Port Private Limited (KPPL), located in Puducherry, for Rs 1,485 crore.APSEZ, in a statement issued on Monday, April 3, said the acquisition followed approval from the National Company Law Tribunal. The NCLT declared APSEZ as a successful resolution applicant under the corporate insolvency resolution process of KPPL, according to Economic Times.Commissioned in 2009, the Karaikal Port was developed in the Karaikal district by the Union territory government of Puducherry. The strategically located port, which is around 300 km south of Chennai, is the only major port between Chennai and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The port has easy access to the industrial-rich hinterland of Central Tamil Nadu. It has a built-in cargo handling capacity of 21.5 million metric tonnes, and primarily handles cement, fertiliser, limestone, steel, and liquids, Business Today reported.According to the KPPL website, the port is an all-weather deep water port developed on build, operate and transfer format under a public-private partnership in terms of the concession awarded by the Puducherry government.Chief executive officer of APSEZ, Karan Adani, in a statement, said, “APSEZ will spend a further Rs 850 crore over time to upgrade infrastructure in order to reduce the logistics cost for the customers.”Calling it “another milestone” for APSEZ, he said the latest acquisition positions APSEZ as the largest transport utility. With Karaikal Port included, APSEZ now operates 14 ports in India, he added.The port gets a 14-meter water draft and has a land area of over 600 acres. Its existing infrastructure includes five operational berths, three railway sidings, mechanised bulk cargo handling system including mechanised wagon-loading and truck-loading systems, two mobile harbour cranes, and a large cargo storage space that includes open yards, 10 covered warehouses, and four liquid storage tanks, the Business Today report said.