After successfully lifting the face and service of Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram aerodromes, the Adani Group now wants to run more airports as part of its massive Rs 90,000 crore push to grow airport business, Reuters reported, citing a top company executive.
The Gautam Adani-led conglomerate, already India's biggest airport operator by number of airports, plans to bid aggressively for all 11 airports that the government is putting up for long-term private lease, according to Adani Airports Holdings Limited director Jeet Adani.
Adani Enterprises's airport arm currently manages seven airports across the country.
In the latest list of airports are Amritsar and Varanasi, part of the BJP-led union government's plan to expand India's airfield network from the current 163 to 350–400 by 2047.
Back in October 2021, Adani took over operations in two state capitals, one in Rajasthan and one in Kerala. While the Jaipur one was smooth, the Thiruvananthapuram one found heavy opposition from the ruling CPIM-led LDF and the opposition alliance UDF led by the Indian National Congress.
But the anti-incumbency wave in the state capital, along with steady support by technocrats who wanted a PPP model to come to Thiruvananthapuram, helped Adani Group gain ground support. "So many international companies left my city because our airport looked like a bus stand," recounted Suresh P, a Technopark employee. "I still do not understand why the politicians in this state were against the development of Thiruvananthapuram airport when they had no issues with Kochi and Kannur airports," the 32-year old technocrat alleged.
Despite this, the Kerala government and parties in the state assembly opposed handing the airport to Adani, with the Assembly unanimously passing a resolution against privatisation and calling the decision “not in the public interest, arbitrary, illegal and violative of the provisions of the AAI Act of 1994”.
The state even floated its own company (TIAL) to bid and later challenged the award in the Supreme Court and High Court, but lost.
Currently, GMR Group leads India's airport management in sheer passenger numbers. But Adani is looking to add more assets.
While Adani's activities are limited to the “operation, management and development” of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, the Jaipur International Airport has been consistently developing under the group's oversight.
"Our airport was so small. Look at it now, and it also looks great inside. And I feel connectivity has increased, too," said Rakesh Shah, a researcher in a top Jaipur institute who hails from Pune and a frequent flyer.