Mumbai: A consortium of JSW Infrastructure, a part of Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Group, and Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd is set to acquire the upcoming Sterling Port in Dahej from its lenders according to a report. Sandesara Group has to pay back Rs 300 crore to banks and Rs 80 crore dues to Gujarat Maritime Board for this project. Sterling Port promoters hold close to 74% equity in the port project, while the remaining stake is held by Sterling Biotech Ltd, the group’s publicly listed flagship company.

Gujarat Maritime Board had invited bids on 1st November in response to which Essar Ports Ltd, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Chennai-based IMC Ltd, and Netherlands-based Royal Vopak NV had submitted expressions of interest to acquire the port.

The JSW-Srei has reached an agreement with lenders of Sterling Port, which includes Srei Infrastructure Finance, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank.

Infrastructure Financer Srei had submitted a bid through unit ILog Port (Dahej) Pvt. Ltd, but it didn’t meet the minimum revenue eligibility criteria of Rs 500 crore, forcing it to join hands with JSW Infrastructure.

GMB had signed a 30-year concession agreement with Sterling Port for the development of Dahej port in June 2015 by setting up two solid cargo terminals, a liquid cargo terminal and a container terminal in phase-I and one terminal each for solid, liquid and container in phase-2.