Government Plans to Privatise 11 Airports Through Five Groups
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to offer the facilities through five groups rather than as individual assets. The proposed structure would pair smaller airports with larger facilities that have stronger commercial prospects, improving the appeal of regional airports to private operators. The facilities would be offered under 50-year lease agreements.
The planned groups would combine Varanasi with Gaya and Kushinagar, Amritsar with Kangra, Bhubaneswar with Hubballi, Raipur with Aurangabad, and Tiruchirappalli with Tirupati. Investors would bid for these clusters and take responsibility for managing and developing the airports within each group.
The bundled model is intended to address the difficulty smaller airports face in attracting private capital because of lower passenger volumes and limited commercial opportunities. By combining them with airports offering stronger revenue potential, the government hopes to create financially viable packages while supporting wider regional aviation development.
The government is also considering limits on the number of packages that an individual bidder can acquire, aiming to prevent excessive concentration of airport infrastructure ownership. Adani Group and GMR Group are established private airport operators, while JSW Group is among the business groups reportedly interested in airport assets.
Investor outreach is planned through roadshows in Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore. The events would present the proposed packages, explain the bidding framework and gather feedback from Indian companies, financial institutions, overseas infrastructure funds and sovereign wealth funds. The final bidding conditions, lease terms and investor response will determine how the packages are distributed, with completion targeted for March 2027.