Destination Asia for Adani's airport business
NEW DELHI , BENGALURU : The Adani Group is looking to take its airports business global beginning with the Far East and Southeast Asia, a top executive aware of the development said. The expansion would be part of the second phase of the airport plans of the group, which entered the sector in 2020. “The new strategy will run parallel to the domestic expansion strategy through acquisition of airports being divested by the government, and also looking at bidding for greenfield airports," the executive said on the condition of anonymity.
Any expansion will be funded by group company Adani Enterprises Ltd, the executive added. In the first phase, the Adani Group had won contracts to operate, develop and manage six airports of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in tier II cities for 50 years—Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram. It also acquired the GVK group’s stake in the Mumbai airport, India’s second busiest airport after the New Delhi airport.
It is now building a greenfield airport in Navi Mumbai through its holding in Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), the company that runs the airport in Mumbai. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) holds 73% in MIAL, which, in turn, holds 74% in Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd. With seven operational airports in its management and development portfolio, AAHL services a quarter of India’s passenger footfalls and a third of India’s air cargo traffic.
An email sent to the Adani Group for comment remained unanswered till press time. Analysts feel that the strategy to go global will not just add to the bottom line, but also help develop best practices for airport management. “It is the right strategy for an Indian airport company like Adani to
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