Karan Adani elevated as MD of Adani Ports; Ashwani Gupta new CEO

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), the ports and logistics company on Wednesday announced that it is elevating CEO Karan Adani to the role of managing director and appointing Ashwani Gupta, former global chief operating officer at Nissan Motors, as the new CEO of the company. Karan replaces Gautam Adani as the MD of the company.

Gautam Adani is now re designated as ‘Executive Chairman’ of APSEZ, the company said. “His (Ashwani Gupta) appointment is a strategic move to strengthen our global leadership position in the port sector. We are confident that his expertise, leadership skills and global exposure will drive exceptional growth and foster new international partnerships aligned with the Adani Group’s vision for expansion and innovation," Karan Adani, MD of APSEZ, was quoted in the release.

The company said Gupta’s track record in fostering key partnerships worldwide and joins the company with a nearly three decades of experience across the automotive, retail and manufacturing sectors. “He has been at the forefront of industry sustainability, innovation and change, focusing on energy transition and customer centricity." The change in leadership comes at a time when the company announced to spend 5,000 6,000 crore every year to build capacity/ assets across various ports.

The investments will be made with an aim to become world's largest port operator by 2030 and help the company continue to grow by 12 14% per annum. Karan began his career with the Adani Group in 2009 at Mundra Port and took over as CEO in 2016. During his stint with the company, APSEZ portfolio rapidly expanded with the addition of four ports and terminals in India, one in Sri Lanka and one in Israel.

The company also undertook a series of strategic expansions and partnerships and now has a spread of 14 ports along India’s coastline and two ports outside India. Along with its subsidiary, Adani Logistics Ltd, APSEZ is also the largest and most diversified private rail operator in India, with a considerable share in both logistics and the harbour & dredging business, the company added.

APSEZ, a part of the globally diversified Adani Group has evolved from a port company to an integrated transport utility providing an end to end solution from its port gate to the customer gate. It is one of the largest port developers and operators in India with seven strategically located ports and terminals on the west coast and seven terminals on the east coast of India.

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