Gujarat-based Adani group on Tuesday announced that its subsidiary Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. (AAHL) has taken over the management and control of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from the GVK Group following the MIAL Board Meeting.
Earlier, it obtained all necessary approvals from the Government of India, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) of Maharashtra, and the Government of Maharashtra.
“We are delighted to take over management of the world class Mumbai International Airport. We promise to make Mumbai proud. The Adani Group will build an airport ecosystem of the future for business, leisure and entertainment. We will create thousands of new local jobs,” the Adani group chief Gautam Adani tweeted announcing the development.
Additionally, the AAHL also announced that it will begin the construction of Navi Mumbai International Airport next month as its financial closure to be completed in the next 90 days and the New International Airport will be commissioned in 2024.
The Gautam Adani-led group took over the Mumbai Airport from GVK group last year.
The Mumbai airport is India’s second busiest airport in both passenger and cargo traffic.
For the Adani group, Mumbai is the latest in its addition with eight airports in its management and development portfolio. AAHL is now India's largest airport infrastructure company, accounting for 25% airport footfalls.
With the addition of MIAL, AAHL will now also control 33% of India’s air cargo traffic.
“Our larger objective is to reinvent airports as ecosystems that drive local economic development and act as the nuclei around which we can catalyse aviation-linked businesses. These include metropolitan developments that span entertainment facilities, e-commerce and logistics capabilities, aviation dependent industries, smart city developments, and other innovative business concepts,” Mr Adani said in a statement issued on Tuesday late evening.
Earlier in 2019, the AAHL won the mandate to modernize and operate six airports – Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram – for a period of 50 years through a tendering process conducted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Of these, it took over the operations of Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports in 2020.
Subsequently, the company has acquired a majority stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) with rights to develop the Navi Mumbai International Airport.
Published - July 13, 2021 09:35 pm IST
