Adani Group has plans to acquire more airports in India as a part of its robust expansion plan in the aviation sector. Indian Government has identified about 25 airports for privatisation, and intends to float tenders for 11 in the first phase of bidding.
“We need to see the conditions of the request for quotation (RFQ), we need to see how the tariff will be applied and we will need to see how the capex will be applied. And only if it makes financial sense, will we put in a bid,” commented Arun Bansal, CEO of Adani Airport Holdings.
In the next round of airport privatisation, the Indian government is planning to pair smaller airports with larger, more profitable ones.
“We need to study the bid document once it comes out to see how the pairing will be filed for the main and the smaller airports,” Bansal added. “The group will work out a strategy only after thoroughly reviewing the tender document. Our strategy is simple, to create a scale [of operations]. If the bid condition is right, we will bid.”
According to the data compiled by Adani Airport Holdings, about 30 cities in India will get dual airports over a course of time, passenger traffic will touch 1 billion by 2040 with a CAGR of 8.5% over the next couple of decades.
In the last auction held in February 2019, Adani Group won the concessions for airports in Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore.