India's Adani seeks to operate more airports as part of $11 billion expansion

India’s Adani Enterprises plans to aggressively bid for 11 airports that the federal government plans to lease to the private sector, as part of the company’s $11 billion expansion strategy for airport infrastructure over the next five years.

Billionaire Gautam Adani-led conglomerate has embarked on an expansion spree in recent years, with its airport subsidiary becoming the largest operator in India by number of airports. India’s other major aviation player, the GMR Group, is the largest operator by number of passengers handled.

The Indian government is leasing out government-owned airports for long periods to private players while incentivising building new ones. It plans to have 350 to 400 airports by 2047 from 163 currently. Earlier this year, New Delhi outlined plans to lease out 11 airports, including at Amritsar and Varanasi.

“We will be bidding for all (11) of them,” Jeet Adani, director at Adani Airports Holdings Limited (AAHL), said in an interview in Mumbai this week.

Adani Airports manages seven airports across India and is set to operationalise the first airport it has built from scratch – a new airport near Mumbai – this month.

IPO PLANS

Jeet Adani said there is no fixed timeline for a public listing of AAHL but an initial public offering or a de-merger would depend on achieving some milestones including the business becoming cash positive.

Currently, AAHL is “largely” EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) positive, but due to the capital expenditure cycle, more cash needs to be deployed, he said.

When asked about a possible valuation for the business, Jeet Adani said that has not been set but the company will look at “comparable multiples” when deciding that

Adani and GMR are rushing to tap into booming air travel in India. About 174 million passengers travelled from and within the south Asian country by air in 2024, 10% more than a year ago, data from the International Air Transport Association showed. Indian airlines have placed orders for over 1,300 aircraft since 2023.

Jeet Adani said the company has no plans to enter the airline business, citing thin margins.

“You need to have a certain mindset to run an airline. I don’t think we have that mindset. Our comfort and our core competency is in creating hard assets on the ground, long gestation assets, running them quite efficiently,” he said.