Indian oligarch Adani takes Haifa port

The historic public port a hub of global maritime trade has been awarded to a consortium 70% controlled by the Indian group. A second private one managed by the Chinese Shanghai International Port Group had already been opened last year. Israel's objective is to make it a major Mediterranean hub. And there is already talk of a "tender" for the rail link to the Gulf.

Haifa (AsiaNews) - The Israeli government has decided to award the port of Haifa to a consortium formed by the Israeli company Gadot Chemical Terminals and the Indian company Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, owned by the Indian oligarch Gautam Adani, a close ally of New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The consortium - in which the Indian company holds 70% of the capital - won the tender with a bid of .18 billion (€1.17 billion), much higher than what the Israeli government estimates.  The concession will last until 2054.

At the centre of this privatisation is the historic port of Haifa, the main maritime gateway to Israel for passengers and goods. It is part of a broader development plan that last year saw the opening in Haifa Bay itself of a second private port, the Haifa Bay Port, managed by the Chinese Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) which was strongly opposed by Washington, for fear that the US Navy's Sixth Fleet, which docks from time to time at the port of Haifa, could be vulnerable to Chinese intelligence and surveillance systems.

Israel has staked a lot on opening up the port sector, which is strategic for the country, to the private sector: 90% of the country's goods traffic passes through Haifa Bay and the aim is to increase efficiency by reducing docking fees. But Haifa is also set to gain further importance in the light of developments in relations and trade between Israel and the Gulf countries, linked to the Abraham Agreements. For some time, there has been talk of a project for a rail link between the Israeli port and Jordan, which would thus become the first section of a much wider route for the transport of goods. And it is likely that the Adani Group, in open competition with the Chinese, is also looking at this design. However, the project is opposed by Egypt, which sees it as a dangerous competitor to the Suez Canal. 

It is also significant that the announcement of the agreement coincided with a virtual summit between US President Joe Biden (on the Israeli leg of his tour), Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid,  Narendra Modi and Mohammed bin Zayed of the I2U2, an economic and political cooperation forum launched last year including Israel, the United States, India and the United Arab Emirates. Israel is already India's largest partner in the security sector, but economic cooperation is also advancing in many other fields.

Gautam Adani greeted the deal for the port of Haifa in nationalist tones. In a tweet, he recalled the Battle of Haifa in 1918 in which Indian regiments - then under the British army - conquered that port, paving the way for the Ottoman defeat.

• India
• Israel
• Haifa
• ports
• cargo
• Gautam Adani
• China
• Gulf
• Abraham Agreement