Adani zeroes on Tel Aviv for AI lab, Haifa for realty biz

HAIFA (Isreal): The Adani Group on Tuesday acquired the strategic Israeli port of Haifa for $1.2 billion and vowed to transform the skyline of this Mediterranean city as part of its decision to invest more in the Jewish nation, including opening an artificial intelligence lab in Tel Aviv.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, whose business empire was rocked by allegations of fraud by US short seller Hindenburg Research, appeared alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for signing of the deal to takeover Haifa Port, and spoke of investment opportunities.

Prime Minister Netanyahu described the Haifa port deal with the Adani Group as an “enormous milestone”, saying it will significantly improve connectivity between the two countries in many ways. The Port of Haifa is the second largest port in Israel in terms of shipping containers and the biggest in shipping tourist cruise ships.

“I think this is an enormous milestone...Over 100 years ago, and during World World I, it was the brave Indian soldiers who helped liberate the city of Haifa. And today, it’s very robust Indian investors who are helping to liberate the port of Haifa,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said the region will become an entry point and an exit point to a vast number of goods that reach the Mediterranean and Europe directly without having to go around the Arabian peninsula without having to go through three choke points.

On his part, Adani said his group will also develop real estate at the port to transform the Haifa skyline. The 60-year-old Indian tycoon did not make any mention of the Hindenburg row that has already wiped out over $70 billion in value from his group stocks.

“We have initiated several dozen technology relationships wherein we have offered the entire Adani portfolio of companies to be a giant sandbox for us to learn together,” he said in his speech. “We are also in the process of setting up an Artificial Intelligence lab in Tel Aviv which will work in close collaboration with our new AI labs in India and US.”

In the last six years, Adani group has struck many critical partnerships with companies such as Elbit Systems, Israel Weapon Systems, and Israel Innovation Authority.