From taxman to port titan: Niraj Bansal gets top job at Adani Ports

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Monday appointed former IRS officer Niraj Bansal as CEO-Ports with effect from June 1.

The APSEZ insider, who has more than 25 years of service under the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) as a Commissioner of Income Tax, will be taking over from Pranav Choudhary, who will step down at the end of May to pursue opportunities outside the Adani Group.

These management changes were disclosed by the company in a regulatory filing on Monday.

Ahead of the announcement, the company's shares ended marginally higher on Monday, with the stock closing at Rs 1,766.50 on the NSE—up by Rs 6.10 (or 0.35 per cent).

Prior to his time at APSEZ, Bansal had served as the Deputy Chairman and Chairman-in-charge of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) from 2014 and 2019.

The APSEZ filing noted during his tenure at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, it saw a cargo throughput of 66 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY 2017-18—the highest since the port’s inception.

In May 2019, Bansal left the JNPT after completing a five-year tenure on deputation from the IRS.

Just a few years later, in July 2021, he also took voluntary retirement from the IRS ahead of taking up the CEO post at the Dighi Port in November 2022, sources told BusinessLine.

Bansal currently serves as the CEO-New Port Project Development in Maharashtra—a post he received after serving as the CEO of the Hazira Port from August 2023 onwards.

Notably, both the Dighi and Hazira ports are operated by APSEZ, with the former even recently becoming an important part of India's two-port Port of Refuge (PoR).

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a PoR is a designated port/anchorage that serves as a refuge for ships in distress seeking emergency repair, shelter from bad weather, and/or help for crew.

Odisha's Gopalpur Port on the eastern coast was the other one designated to be a part of India's PoR.