Adani to invest ₹1 lakh cr in airports; eyes aggressive bids in next privatisation round

Mumbai, Dec 19 (PTI) Adani Group plans to invest ₹An investment of Rs 1 lakh crore in the airports business over the next five years is betting on sustainable growth in India’s aviation sector, which is expected to grow at 15-16 per cent annually, a senior group official said.

“Airport side ₹1 lakh crore in the next five years, Adani Airports Director and billionaire Gautam Adani’s younger son Jeet Adani told PTI ahead of the start of commercial operations at Navi Mumbai International Airport on December 25.

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Navi Mumbai International Airport will be the latest addition to Adani Group’s expanding airport portfolio and will further strengthen its presence in India’s aviation infrastructure.

The airport, developed by Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL), in which Adani Group holds a 74 percent stake, is scheduled to begin commercial operations on December 25.

Built at initial cost ₹The first phase, at ₹19,650 crore, will have the capacity to carry 20 million passengers per year, with plans to scale up to 90 million passengers over time, easing capacity constraints at Mumbai’s existing airport and supporting long-term growth in the region’s air traffic.

Adani group had acquired Mumbai airport from GVK Group.

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Apart from two airports in Mumbai, Adani Group operates six more airports in Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Mangaluru.

This portfolio includes metro and regional airports, and the group also plans to bid aggressively for the next round of airport privatizations.

“As someone who is loyal to this industry and a bullish believer, we will be 100 percent very aggressive in the next round of bidding for all 11 airports,” he said.

Regarding investments in the MRO and Flight Simulation Training Center (FSTC) sectors, he said: “It’s a little early to say because we’re still in the process of finalizing a long-term strategy and then putting a number on it.”

But he added: “At the end of the day, we are in this business and we want to continue to increase our expertise and depth.” Adani said India’s aviation sector, which includes airports and airlines, could sustain mid-teens growth for the next decade or more.

Pointing out that air travel per capita is low compared to China, he said, “The Indian aviation industry as a whole can grow continuously at 15-16 percent on an annual basis over the next 10-15 years.” “Even if we reach China, that means the entire industry will have to expand across multiple cities.”

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He said the growth path was long-term, saying: “This is a very long growth path that we’ve had. And all signs point to it seemingly being completed.”

Drawing attention to the capacity restrictions at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Adani said, “Supply at Mumbai Airport was limited since 2016 and could not serve the additional demand.” He said, “With Navi Mumbai Airport becoming operational, we will eventually see some relief there.”

Describing the launch of Navi Mumbai International Airport as a milestone, he said: “This is an extremely important moment for Indian aviation… firstly, we are seeing an asset of this size coming online and secondly, it is not stopping at this size. Four times growth is still required.”

Adani Group, through its airport arm Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), is India’s largest airport infrastructure operator. It controls a significant portion of India’s air traffic, accounting for about 23 percent of passenger movements and 33 percent of cargo traffic across the country.

In parallel, AAHL is investing in capacity upgrades and phased expansions at existing facilities and scaling ancillary services such as non-aviation retail and city-side developments; This reflects an effort to turn solid infrastructure into diversified revenue streams.

“We have separated two businesses. One is the airport infrastructure business and the other is the aircraft services business. So this may include dual use, defense and civil use,” Adani said. he said.

Adani Group won six airports – Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Mangaluru – in the previous round of privatization in 2019 and acquired Mumbai Airport from GVK Group in 2021.

While the Ministry of Civil Aviation has identified 11 airports, including six smaller ones, for operations under the public-private partnership model, the National Monetization Pipeline envisages leasing 25 airports operated by the Airports Authority of India between 2022 and 2025.