MindFare

How India's port companies are changing Yesterday, we had looked at India's ports industry, and its crucial role as "the lungs of our economy". The vast majority of the goods we bought and sold as a country — 90% by volume, in fact — touched our ports at some point. But knowing that ports matter is one thing. Understanding the actual  businesses  that run them is quite another. So, like we promised last time, we'll dive into two  companies  that sit behind the scenes as cargo moves in and out of India:  Adani Ports , and  JSW Infrastructure . These entities are at an interesting juncture. As we'll soon see, some of our biggest port players aren't just running ports anymore. They're building something much more ambitious. Adani Ports Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is India's largest private port operator. It runs 15 ports and terminals across the Indian coastline, capturing  27%  share of all cargo handled in the country. Source I...

Why the US and China are watching Panama closely A Closer Look at the Panama Port Deal The Panama Canal is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. And right now, it could be on the brink of a strategic shift. The canal Two ports at both gateways of the canal — Balboa and Cristóbal — might just change hands in a  $22.8 billion deal . These ports handle nearly 39% of the canal's container traffic — about  3.74 million TEUs  annually — and oversee more than 12,000 ships that pass through the canal each year. If approved, the world's largest shipping company, MSC, and BlackRock's infrastructure fund will take them over from Hong Kong's CK Hutchison. Their sale, though, isn't a mere commercial agreement. It's a matter of  global power dynamics . These companies stand to buy a piece of one of the world's most important geopolitical chokepoints. And that's why this deal has landed up at the center of a major international diplomatic tussle. Why Panama is...