Adani eyes 12 more airports, checks into hospitality biz

MUMBAI: Adani Group, India’s fifth-largest conglomerate by market value, intends to bid for nearly a dozen airports slated for privatisation as part of its Rs 1-lakh-crore investment plan for aviation infrastructure over the next five years.

Earlier this year, govt announced plans to lease out 11 airports, including those in Amritsar and Varanasi.“Out of the Rs 1-lakh-crore, some part is earmarked and provisioned for the next round of airport bidding,” Jeet Adani, director at Adani Group, who oversees the country’s largest private airport network, told TOI. The investment, which will be funded through a mix of debt and equity, will also be deployed to build new terminals and upgrade aircraft-handling facilities and passenger amenities across its airports.

The group entered the airport sector in 2019 after winning six airports in govt’s privatisation drive. Two years later, it acquired the Mumbai airport from GVK Group, expanding its footprint. It is set to operationalise the Navi Mumbai airport next week, its first greenfield airport project.Jeet (28), the younger son of group chairman Gautam Adani, is also preparing the airport business for a potential listing by 2030 through a demerger.

The group has previously listed businesses such as power transmission and renewable energy through similar demergers, bypassing the traditional IPO route.Before a listing, however, the airport unit must meet key milestones, including turning cash positive. Housed under flagship Adani Enterprises, the unit is ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) positive. In FY25, it made an operating profit of Rs 3,480 crore. “Once the capex cycle slows and revenues start flowing from the Navi Mumbai airport, city side development such as retail, food and beverage, hotels, and from ongoing expansion, the business will become cash positive and will not need support from the parent,” said Jeet.For now, the group’s airport ambitions remain firmly domestic. Jeet said the group will focus on India for five years, following the cancellation of an airport contract in Kenya last year amid criticism over transparency. This story had continued from a page 35 story in the newspaper. For your reading convenience we have added it below.Adani Grp eyes 12 airports in 1L cr infra planThe Adani Group intends to bid for nearly a dozen airports slated for privatisation as part of its Rs 1 lakh-crore investment plan for aviation infrastructure over the next five years, group director Jeet Adani said. Govt announced plans to lease out 11 airports, including those in Amritsar and Varanasi, earlier this year.