Adani Group Announces INR 1 Trn Capex Plan for Airports, Infrastructure Over Five Years

According to Jeet Adani, director of Adani Airports, the Adani Group intends to invest INR 1 lakh crore in its airport business over the next five years, counting on robust and sustained growth in India's aviation sector. Ahead of the start of commercial operations at Navi Mumbai International Airport, he told news agency PTI that the group is still quite optimistic about the long-term potential of the sector. According to news agency PTI, Jeet Adani stated, "On the airport side, INR 1 lakh crore in the next five years." He also mentioned that India's aviation ecosystem might expand at a rate of 15–16% per year for the next ten years or more.

Air Travel in India Needs Further Expansion-Adani

Adani cited India's low per capita air travel compared to China, pointing out that the industry would need to grow across several cities to even approach Chinese levels. A significant addition to the group's airport portfolio, Navi Mumbai International Airport is scheduled to open for business on December 25. The Adani Group owns 74% of the project, which is being developed by Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd.

The airport's first phase, which was built at an original cost of INR 19,650 crore, will be able to accommodate 20 million people annually. Over time, capacity is expected to increase to 90 million. According to Jeet Adani, the new airport will relieve pressure on Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, which has long struggled with capacity issues. He claimed that starting in 2016, Mumbai Airport's supply was limited, and it was unable to meet the growing demand. He went on to say that Navi Mumbai's commissioning would finally provide some respite.

Navi Mumbai Airport a Landmark Moment for Indian Aviation

Adani described the inauguration of Navi Mumbai Airport as an important milestone for Indian aviation and stated that there is still much space for expansion. He saw that there is still four times as much growing to be done. The Adani Group, which previously purchased Mumbai airport from the GVK Group, also runs six other airports: Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, and Mangaluru.

According to Jeet Adani, the company intends to submit "very aggressive" bids for each of the 11 airports selected for the upcoming phase of privatisation. Although the group is still firmly committed to growing its expertise, he said it was too soon to commit to statistics regarding investments in aviation services like MRO and flight simulation training centres.

He stated, "We want to keep expanding our depth and expertise." The group currently controls over 33% of the nation's cargo flow and roughly 23% of passenger traffic through Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, making it the largest airport infrastructure operator in India. In an effort to provide a variety of revenue sources, the corporation is growing non-aeronautical services and city-side projects in addition to capacity expansions.