The Adani group plans to have an integration of hub-and-spoke model with its portfolio of Mumbai and six other smaller airports.
The company signed a deal two days back with GVK group to acquire 75 per cent stake in Mumbai International Airport. With this, it now also owns the upcoming second airport in Navi Mumbai.
“We see our airport portfolio as a critical lever to help converge tier-1 cities with tier-2 and tier-3 cities in a hub-and-spoke model,” Adani group’s chairman and promoter Gautam Adani said in a statement.
With one of India’s most profitable international airports in its kitty and having won the development and operation rights over a 50-year lease for the Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati airports, Adani Enterprises Ltd will be the biggest private sector airport operator in India in terms of the number of airports.
The Ahmedabad-based conglomerate, with investments in logistics, transportation, utilities, and energy, had surprised the industry with its aggressive bids. At Rs 115 per passenger for Mangaluru and Rs 171 for Lucknow, Adani Group’s bids were over 500 per cent more than the bids received from the GMR Group and PNC Infratech. Similarly, it placed a bid of Rs 177 for Ahmedabad airport, nearly 200 per cent more than the bid of Rs 60 of Autostrade Indian Infrastructure Development Pvt Ltd.
“The addition of Mumbai International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport to our existing portfolio of six airports provides us a transformational platform that will help shape and create strategic adjacencies for our other B2B businesses,” Adani said.
Adani said he expects the number of flyers in the country to grow five-fold, which means India will require 200 more airports to handle over one billion domestic and international passengers across the Tier-1, 2 and 3 cities. “Majority of them will connect to Mumbai,” he said, adding that the company will also bid for the second airports that will be required in metro cities. The government has been seeking private funds to repair and grow the nation’s creaking infrastructure, including its airports.
“Over this period, India’s top 30 cities are expected to each require two airports and Adani Airports sees itself well-positioned to help build the infrastructure platform required. Our view is that the economic value that the cities of the future create will be maximized around airports. Given our deep infrastructure expertise, we are well positioned to help make this happen.” he said.
According to the plan given in the company’s annual report, the company plans to increase non-aero revenue developing “airport villages” and has assured its shareholders that it is “well-positioned” to become the leading airport operator in India. It is banking on growing domestic passenger traffic to achieve this aim.
