Bengaluru airport most profitable in India in FY23, Ahmedabad incurs highest losses

Prem Watsa's Fairfax India Holdings Corporation currently holds a 57 percent stake in the Kempegowda International Airport, while Siemens holds a 17 percent stake

Bengaluru airport emerged as the country's most profitable airport, reporting a profit of Rs 528.3 crore during 2022-2023.

Prem Watsa's Fairfax India Holdings Corporation currently holds a 57 percent stake in the Kempegowda International Airport, while Siemens holds a 17 percent stake. The remaining 26 percent is equally owned by the Karnataka government through the Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (KSIIDC) and the Union government through the Airport Authority of India.

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Union Minister VK Singh, in a written response in Rajya Sabha on December 4, said that only three out of the 14 airports under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode were in profit during 2022-2023.

Cochin airport secured the second position with a profit of Rs 267.1 crore, and Hyderabad claimed the third spot with Rs 32.9 crore in profits during 2022-2023.

Ahmedabad airport incurred the highest loss of Rs 408.51 crore in 2022-2023, followed by Delhi (Rs 284.8 loss), Lucknow (Rs 160.6 crore loss), Mopa (Rs 148.3 crore loss), Kannur (Rs 131.9 crore loss), Jaipur (Rs 128.5 crore loss), Mangaluru (Rs 125.9 crore loss), Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 110.1 crore loss), Guwahati (Rs 60.9 crore loss), Durgapur (Rs 9.1 crore loss) and Mumbai (Rs 1.04 crore loss).

Among the 125 airports operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Kolkata emerged as the most profitable, reporting Rs 482.3 crore, followed by Chennai (Rs 169.5 crore), Calicut (Rs 95.3 crore), Tiruchirapalli (Rs 31.5 crore), Coimbatore (Rs 12.6 crore), Bhubaneswar (Rs 11.8 crore), Chandigarh (Rs 9.5 crore), Bagdogra (Rs 2.7 crore), Asansol (Rs 2 crore), Leh (Rs 1.8 crore), Kanpur Chakeri (Rs 1.4 crore) and Darbhanga (Rs 1.1 crore)

"As part of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), 25 AAI airports, including Bhubaneswar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun and Rajahmundry, have been earmarked for leasing between 2022 and 2025," said Singh.

Singh emphasised the leasing strategy for better management, utilising private sector efficiency and investment, with the ultimate beneficiaries being states and passengers.

Further, AAI leased out six airports, including Mangaluru, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Guwahati under the PPP mode. "The present valuation indicated an expenditure of approximately Rs 2767 crore at these six airports before handing them over to the PPP concessionaire. The concessionaire paid this amount as an upfront fee, subject to reconciliation and determination by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA)," said Singh.

"The airport-wise running costs saved by AAI per annum are: (i) Ahmedabad (Rs 137.41 crore), (ii) Jaipur (Rs 50.96 crore), (iii) Lucknow (Rs 62.96 crore), (iv) Mangaluru (Rs 53.29 crore), (v) Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 142.09 crore), (vi) Guwahati (Rs 67.88 crore)," said Singh.

"Since the takeover, each of the six concessionaires has earned revenue as follows: (i) Ahmedabad (Rs 506 crore), (ii) Jaipur (Rs 251 crore), (iii) Lucknow (Rs 365 crore), (iv) Mangaluru (Rs 118 crore), (v) Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 350 crore), (vi) Guwahati (Rs 248 crore)," said Singh.

Also read: Bengaluru airport records 96% growth in passenger traffic, reaching 31.91 million in 2022-2023