GMR Airports Plans ₹19,400 Crore ($2 Billion) Expansion of Delhi and Hyderabad Airports
GMR Airports Ltd is planning to invest as much as ₹19,400 crore (about $2 billion) to expand its New Delhi and Hyderabad airport facilities. The investment will be spread over the next five to seven years and is aimed at boosting capacity and modernising infrastructure to keep pace with rising passenger volumes.
Of the total outlay, the company has earmarked around ₹13,800 crore for Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad and up to ₹5,600 crore for Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. The funds will be raised through a mix of debt and equity by the respective airport ventures and will not be directly tied to GMR Airports, the holding company.
Once completed, the upgraded Hyderabad airport will be able to accommodate about 80 million passengers annually, more than double its current volume of 34 million. GMR Airports is India's largest airport operator by passenger numbers, while rival Adani Airport Holdings is the largest by number of airports operated.
The expansion is set against government projections that India's passenger traffic could rise nearly six-fold to around 1.1 billion over the next 14 years, with the commercial aircraft fleet expected to grow from about 400 planes in 2014 to more than 2,350 by 2040.
GMR is also evaluating further investment at Nagpur Airport and intends to participate in future airport privatisation opportunities offered by the Indian government. The company has indicated it will remain focused on airport operations and related businesses such as maintenance, commercial development and real estate, rather than entering the airline sector.