Ahmedabad, June 25 (IANS) Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) on Thursday said that S&P Global Ratings has upgraded its long-term issuer credit rating and the issue rating on its senior unsecured notes to “BBB” from “BBB-“ with a “Stable” outlook, citing its robust cash generation and ability to fund an ambitious expansion plan while maintaining healthy leverage.

The S&P upgrade elevates Adani Ports to a rating level at par with India’s sovereign rating assigned by S&P.

“This S&P upgrade is a landmark achievement for the company. Attaining a rating at par with India’s sovereign rating reflects the strength of our business model, the resilience of our cash flows, the quality of our infrastructure assets, and our unwavering commitment to financial discipline”, said Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director and CEO, APSEZ.

“This upgrade comes at a time when APSEZ is executing one of the most ambitious growth programmes in the global ports and logistics sector and is testament to APSEZ’s disciplined approach to capital allocation,” he mentioned.

Key rating action rationale includes Adani Ports’ robust financials can accommodate high growth spending; tightened leverage policy to support healthy financials and growing and diversified portfolio of assets to underpin strong cash flows.

The company’s strong financial position provides significant headroom to support its growth strategy, which includes increasing domestic port capacity to 1 billion tonne by 2030 from 653 million tonne currently, said S&P.

The rating agency expects annual capital expenditure to rise to about Rs 18,000 crore in fiscals 2027 and 2028 and Rs 20,000 crore in fiscal 2029, from historical levels of around Rs 13,000 crore.

The company said the upgrade recognises Adani Ports’ robust operating cash flow and financials, underpinned by APSEZ’s resilient business model that has withstood trade tensions across business cycles and competitive pressures within the transportation sector.

In January 2026, Japanese Credit Rating Agency (JCR) assigned APSEZ a “A-/Stable” rating, representing a rare breach of the sovereign threshold by an Indian corporate by an international rating agency.

—IANS

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