[DELHI] The Adani Group plans to invest US$15 billion to boost passenger capacity at its airports to 200 million annually in the next five years, sources familiar with the matter said, helping power India’s aviation boom as it prepares to list its airport unit.
The plan involves adding terminals, taxiways, and a new runway at the Navi Mumbai airport, which is set to open Dec 25, said the sources, who asked not to be identified as the plans are private. Alongside, the group will undertake capacity upgrades at Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow and Guwahati airports, they said.
About 70 per cent of funding will come from debt raised over five years, with the rest in equity, the sources said.
The expansion ties in with a projected increase in India’s air traffic, with passenger numbers expected to more than double to 300 million annually by 2030. By scaling up capacity to two-thirds of that number, Adani is positioning itself as a key facilitator of this growth, while strengthening its case for a planned initial share sale for its airports unit.
The expansion, to boost total passenger capacity by more than 60 per cent, excludes 20 million at Navi Mumbai and 11 million at Guwahati, opening this month, they said.
A representative for the Adani Group did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comments.
The upgrades focus on six airports leased during India’s second privatisation phase in 2020, previously managed by the state-run Airports Authority of India. India began privatising airports in 2006, with GMR Airports and GVK Power & Infrastructure acquiring New Delhi and Mumbai. Adani later bought GVK’s stake.
The government now plans to privatise 11 more airports, bundling loss-making facilities with profitable ones. Adani Airport Holdings, India’s largest operator by number of airports, and GMR Airports, the largest by passenger traffic, are expected to lead the bidding.
India is also building a second airport in Delhi to meet demand, while targeting 400 airports nationwide by 2047, from 160 now. BLOOMBERG
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