Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) is investing $1.4 billion in Adani Vizhinjam Port Thiruvananthapuram amid booming trade in the world’s most populous country.

Under the deal, Adani Ports and Special Economic ?Zone (APSEZ) will sell a 49% stake in Adani Vizhinjam Port to MSC’s Terminal Investments Ltd. (TIL), according to an announcement released Tuesday by APSEZ. TIL is one of the world’s largest container terminal operators with a portfolio of more than 100 container terminals across five continents and a throughput of more than 70 million TEUs per annum.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, deepens the partnership between Aponte and Indian ports-to-energy billionaire Gautam Adani. The fresh capital from Terminal Investments will help support expansion plans for Vizhinjam Port, which handled more than two million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first 18 months of its operations.