The Adani Group plans to expand the seven existing airports in its portfolio with ₹60,000 crore over the next 5-10 years, MD of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Karan Adani said. Adani Airports Holdings (AAHL) Chief Executive Officer Arun Bansal explained that ₹30,000 crore will be spent on the ‘airside’ in the next five years. The rest will be allocated to the ‘cityside’ in the next five to 10 years at airports in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Guwahati, Jaipur, and Thiruvananthapuram.
Karan Adani said, “The current capacity of our airports is 10-11 crore passengers annually (CPA). This will be increased by up to three times. Lucknow has got a new terminal. Navi Mumbai will open next (by next March). Then Guwahati airport will get a new terminal. We are planning new terminals for Ahmedabad and Jaipur also. Overall, we are looking at a combined capacity of 25-30 CPA by 2040.”
However, capital expenditure (capex) of ₹60,000 crore does not include the ₹18,000 crore allocated for the Phase-I development of the Navi Mumbai airport, he said.
Arun Bansal said that priority is to operationalise Navi Mumbai airport and start city side development at airports. He added, “Internationally, our strategy is to participate in (airport development) opportunities where it makes sense for the group…where there is larger opportunity in the country to participate in ports, transmission etc. We are looking at one specific country at the moment.”
