Hurdles Dog Adani's Airport Venture

Adani has control of seven airports – six Airports Authority of India airports through privatisation and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) at Mumbai by acquiring GVK’s stake — and almost a quarter of India’s air traffic. However, to make them profitable, Adani will have to overcome infra and other challenges that each of the airports face, writes AMEYA JOSHI.

- Ameya Joshi

Privatisation of airports in India is gaining momentum. What started as a small effort at Kochi has grown manifold with existing airports at Delhi and Mumbai airports being privatized on one hand and Bengaluru and Hyderabad seeing Greenfield airports being developed. There was, however, a long hiatus, post the success of the four airports.

The next movement in this space happened only in 2019 and 2020 with the Union cabinet approving the transfer of six airports on 50-year leases to the Adani Group. The firm has taken control or is in the process of taking control of airports at Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. In addition, the group acquired GVK’s stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) which operates the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) at Mumbai, the financial capital of the country.

The company turned out to be the highest bidder for these airports; its highest bid was way beyond the second bidder or anybody else. Privatisation is not a great word in India, especially when used by politicians. Privatisation of state assets is not smooth as it had led to strikes, court orders, and agitations in the past. Even in this case, the state government of Kerala knocked on the doors of the court against privatisation of the airport at Thiruvananthapuram.

The airports