Adani Group Acquired Mumbai International Airport

Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a fully-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, has acquired the controlling stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from the GVK Group on Tuesday, the company said in a statement.

For the same the company has received go-ahead from the Government of India, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) of Maharashtra as well as the Government of Maharashtra. country's second busiest airport.

"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," said Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, in a statement.

"Our airport expansion strategy is intended to help converge our nation's Tier 1 cities with the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in a hub and spoke model. This is fundamental to enabling a greater equalization of India's urban-rural divide, as well as making international travel seamless and smooth," he added.

Pertinently, AAHL topped as the the country's largest airport operator after acquiring a controlling stake in the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) that runs the Mumbai airport.

In respect of passenger traffic, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai is the second leading airport in the country.

As per ICRA's March report, airport sector will incur a net loss of Rs. 5400 crore in the FY21 owing to the sharp decline in passenger because of the pandemic. In the report, a cash loss of Rs. 3500 crore has already been factored in.

The airport sector is expected to bounce back to profitability in FY22, with the industry net profit expected to rise to Rs. 190 crore, said ICRA.