An Adani Group company has bought Haifa, Israel’s second largest port. The deal was done for $1.18 billion. The acquisition was made by an Adani Group company in collaboration with a local Israeli company, the Gadot Group.

Adani Group acquired Haifa Port, one of Israel’s largest ports, last week. The port was bought for $1.18 billion. Now the Israeli media is calling this deal a strategic move. The Israeli newspaper Daily Ha’aretz reported that the difference in the bid price between the Indian company Adani and its nearest competitor in the Haifa port auction process shows that money didn’t mattered a lot for the deal. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited jointly with Israel’s Gadot Group won the tender for the privatization of Haifa port.

Let us tell you that Haifa port is the second largest port of Israel. In this consortium, Adani Company will have 70 per cent stake while Gadot Group will hold 30 per cent. Adani Ports had offered 3.1 billion shekels ($1.18 billion) for the port, the report said. This is a higher price than the Israeli government’s expectations. Looking at it, it is as if Adani is saying, get aside, this is a strategic deal and the price is not of much importance to us.

Local groups also wanted to participate in the bid to buy the port, but when they heard about the money offered by Adani Ports, they backed out, the report said. In the report, a person associated with this bidding process was quoted as saying that from this difference in bidding, you can understand that this is a different matter. Let us tell you that this bid took place at a time when the leaders of the member countries of I2U2 organization India, Israel, America and UAE were having a virtual conference.

I2U2 is being seen as the new quad organization, which aims to reduce the growing influence of China. The Adani Group company along with Israeli company Gadot Chemical Terminals were declared the winners of the Haifa port bid, the report said. This company belongs to Gautam Adani, one of the richest people in Asia.

Adani’s company operates 13 maritime terminals in India. The report said that since the Adani Group has no holdings in the West, the company’s entry into Israel is seen as a sign of increasing maritime traffic between Asia and Europe. Let us tell you that Adani had tweeted on Thursday that he has acquired Haifa port in collaboration with his Israeli partner company Gadot.

At the same time, Israel feels that after Adani’s entry into the country, there will be more investment from India in the future, especially in the renewable energy and defense sector. The Adani Group is already joining hands with leading Israeli defense companies to set up a drone manufacturing unit in India.

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