Adani Group Charts $15 billion Major Airport Expansion

Adani Group plans a $15 billion, five‑year expansion to lift its airport capacity to 200 million passengers annually, centered on the new Navi Mumbai airport and upgrades across six major hubs. Funded mainly by debt, the strategy aligns with India’s rapidly growing air travel market and ongoing privatization, positioning Adani for a strong role ahead of its airport unit’s planned listing.

The Adani Group is gearing up for a sweeping overhaul of its airport infrastructure, planning to invest around $15 billion over the next five years to dramatically increase the passenger-handling capacity of its network. According to people familiar with the strategy, the company aims to reach an annual capacity of roughly 200 million travelers, aligning itself with India’s rapidly growing aviation sector and a forthcoming listing of its airports business.

Central to this expansion is the Navi Mumbai International Airport, scheduled to begin operations on December 25. The development blueprint includes new terminals, expanded taxiways, and the construction of an additional runway there. At the same time, the group intends to roll out sizable upgrades at several of its other major airports, including those in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, and Guwahati.

Sources indicated that roughly 70% of the total investment will be financed through debt over the next half decade, with the remainder funded through equity.

India’s aviation market is on the cusp of significant growth, with nationwide passenger numbers expected to more than double to about 300 million annually by 2030. By boosting its own capacity to handle a large share of that traffic, Adani is positioning itself as an essential player in meeting the country’s rising air travel demand—an effort that may also strengthen investor confidence ahead of its planned airport unit IPO.

The company’s current expansion estimates do not include an additional 20 million passengers anticipated from the Navi Mumbai facility or the 11 million expected from the Guwahati airport, which is slated to open this month.

Most of the airports being modernized were acquired during the Indian government’s 2020 privatization round and were previously managed by the Airports Authority of India. Private participation in the aviation sector began in 2006, when GMR acquired the Delhi airport and GVK took control of Mumbai—assets later partly obtained by Adani.

New privatization efforts are already in motion, with the government preparing to auction 11 more airports by bundling less profitable facilities with successful ones. Adani Airport Holdings, now the country’s largest airport operator by footprint, and GMR Airports, which leads in passenger volumes, are expected to be strong contenders for these upcoming contracts.

In parallel with these developments, India is building a second major airport for the Delhi region and has outlined an ambitious plan to scale the national airport network from the current 160 to roughly 400 by 2047, signaling long-term confidence in the country’s aviation future.