India's Adani Airports, part of billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate, will bid for more airports in the country in its ambition to become the leading airport operator there, Chief Executive Arun Bansal said on Wednesday.
In the last round of airport privatisation by the government, Adani Airports won bids to operate six airports.
India is expected to privatise about a dozen more airports over the next few years and Bansal said the group would participate in the bidding.
At the CAPA India Summit, Bansal talked about the huge potential in the Indian market that Adani Airports sees. He believes that unwavering focus on the Indian market can help the company expand its airport business.
“Cost of operating airports should come down by 30-50 percent in few years due to higher tech adoption,” said Bansal. “Airports plan for 5–10 years and replan as they approach capacity constraints. Adani Airports has a 40-year vision. And Operational Scale is a focus,” he added.
Bansal noted that additional revenue should also be generated from the 3-4 people who accompany each passenger to the airport.
Talking about Adani Airports having an edge with the ownership of the CSMIA & Navi Mumbai Airports, Bansal said, “We are working with the state government. We want to look at the two airports as 2 terminals, not 2 airports.”
The Navi Mumbai Airport will run on 100% green energy and all vehicles on airside will also run on green energy, said Bansal. Phase 1 of the airport is expected to be launched by December 2024 with a capacity of 20 million passengers.
(With Reuters inputs)
