Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), the flagship incubator of the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate, has earmarked ₹17,000 crore for its airports business out of a total planned capital expenditure of ₹40,000 crore($4.2 billion) for the financial year 2026–27 (FY27) — making aviation its single largest investment segment, The Hindu Business Line reported. The allocation, disclosed by AEL’s Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder “Robbie” Singh during an investor interaction, encompasses the construction of a new integrated terminal at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD), Ahmedabad, ahead of the 2030 Commonwealth Games, alongside an accelerated second-phase build-out at Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMI).
The announcement arrives on the back of AEL’s full-year results for FY26, which revealed that its airport holding vehicle, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), delivered aero revenue growth of 26 per cent year-on-year and non-aero revenue growth of 31 per cent. Singh stated that AEL achieved close to 95 per cent of its targeted capex in FY26 and intends to maintain the same cadence in FY27, telling investors: “We expect the capex for next year to be at the same level around ₹40,000 crore.”
The Commonwealth Games Imperative Drives
Ahmedabad Airport’s New Terminal
The most symbolically significant project within the ₹17,000 crore airports envelope is the New Integrated Terminal Building (NITB) at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) in Ahmedabad. The terminal’s first phase is targeted for completion by 2029, ahead of the 2030 Commonwealth Games — an event that Commonwealth Sport officially awarded to Ahmedabad on 26 November 2025 during the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly in Glasgow.
Preparatory work on the NITB site is already underway. Over 200 trees near the old cargo complex have been identified for scientific relocation to a designated area behind the Terminal 2 parking facility, marking the start of ground-level execution. AMD currently handles approximately 13.4 million passengers annually, and the new terminal is expected to substantially expand that capacity to accommodate the surge of international visitors expected during the Games. The expansion of the Ahmedabad airport is formally committed to be completed before the Games, per the event’s infrastructure obligations.
The Commonwealth Games are scheduled for October 2030 and will mark the centenary edition of the event, with nearly all competitions concentrated in the Ahmedabad–Gandhinagar corridor. India’s government has fast-tracked construction approvals for major sporting and transportation venues, including the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave, with Gujarat principal secretary Ashwani Kumar confirming construction would begin in April 2026 and conclude by late 2028 or early 2029.
Navi Mumbai’s Phase II: Racing Against Its Own Traffic Surge
The second major priority within AEL’s airports capex envelope is Phase II of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMI), located in the Ulwe suburb of Raigad district. The airport that is set to become Mumbai largest airport was inaugurated in October 2025 and commenced commercial operations on 25 December 2025, has already scaled to 156 daily flight services, handling approximately 20,000 passengers per day during its early operational phase.
Singh articulated the urgency animating Phase II’s acceleration:
“All the traffic projections for Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and the MMR region show that we will reach capacity at Navi Mumbai in 12–18 months. We are accelerating this project.”
Phase I of NMI was designed to handle 20 million passengers per annum, and Phase II construction is expected to commence shortly after the 2026 monsoon season, with the second terminal projected to push capacity to 50 million passengers annually. The airport is being developed across five phases, with an ultimate design capacity of 90 million passengers per year, at a total group investment of approximately ₹80,000 crore.
The operational ramp-up at NMI has been brisk. AAHL’s summer schedule, effective from 29 March 2026, now connects 46 destinations across India, with daily departures growing from 22 at launch to 78 by end-April 2026. Navi Mumbai International Airport is simultaneously in discussions with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to be designated a hub airport, targeting 11 million passengers in its first full operational year (FY27) and 20 million by FY28.
The Non-Aero Revenue Imperative for AAHL
A material portion of the ₹17,000 crore allocation is directed not at runways and terminals but at city-side development across the following five airports:
- Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)
- Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMI)
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD)
- Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (LKO) in Lucknow
- Jaipur International Airport (JAI). These developments encompass retail malls, hospitality assets, commercial offices, entertainment venues, and mixed-use urban districts designed to transform airport precincts into standalone economic ecosystems.
AAHL’s strategy reflects an industry-wide recognition that aeronautical revenues — those derived from landing fees, passenger service charges, and aircraft parking — are capped by regulatory tariff orders set by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
Non-aeronautical revenue, by contrast, carries no such ceiling. According to India Shipping News, Non-aero revenue across the AAHL portfolio grew 31 per cent year-on-year in FY26, reflecting the early dividend of investments in retail concessions, food and beverage, cargo, and advertising. Reports also have it that AAHL’s airports EBITDA soared 55 per cent year-on-year to ₹5,394 crore in FY26, with passenger movements reaching 95.3 million.
Adani Airports is simultaneously deploying next-generation technology to maximise non-aero monetisation. The group has described plans for real-time individual baggage tracking systems that can update passengers on specific bag statuses at 30-second intervals — a capability that AAHL has described as a global first at the airport level. Digital systems are also being integrated across:
- building management
- airline processes
- ground handling
- retail operations
to increase dwell time and, consequently, per-passenger retail yields.
A Look into Adani Enterprise Limited’s FY26 Operational Performance
AEL’s full-year FY26 results, announced on 30 April 2026, presented a bifurcated picture. Total income for the year rose 3 per cent year-on-year to ₹1,02,943 crore, while consolidated EBITDA held at ₹16,464 crore, with approximately 80 per cent of that figure derived from mature, long-term contracted businesses. Full-year Profit After Tax (PAT) climbed 31 per cent to ₹9,339 crore, aided by a gain of ₹9,215 crore from AEL’s divestiture of stakes in Adani Wilmar and its cement units to Ambuja Cements Ltd.
The fourth quarter (January–March 2026), however, produced a net loss of ₹221 crore — a reversal from the ₹3,845 crore profit recorded in Q4 FY25. The company attributed this loss primarily to elevated depreciation charges on newly commissioned assets, including the Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Kutch Copper plant, rather than any deterioration in operating fundamentals. Revenues from operations grew 20.3 per cent in Q4 to ₹32,439 crore.
Group Chairman Gautam Adani framed the results in the context of an infrastructure maturity arc. In the FY26 results release, he stated:
“What is particularly encouraging is that majority of the EBITDA is now led by our core infrastructure incubating businesses and stable mining services, reflecting the maturity and scale of our operating portfolio.”
He identified FY26 as “a year of decisive progress in building and making ready some of the large infra-assets of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, Guwahati Airport, and the Ganga Expressway.”
Comparing The Airport Push to AEL’s Broader Incubation Strategy
A report in Business Today, indicate that Adani Airport Holdings Ltd is targeting a public listing — either through an IPO or a demerger — between 2027 and 2030. According to AAHL Director Jeet Adani, the listing timeline is contingent on three milestones:
- the successful operational scale-up of Navi Mumbai International Airport
- AAHL achieving free cash flow positivity, which the group projects within two to three years as capex intensity moderates
- the pre-leasing of major city-side real estate assets, including the planned Aero City in Navi Mumbai, which envisages 20 hotels and commercial hubs.
Business Standard reported that Adani Airport Holdings Ltd will likely be spun off and listed by March 2027, citing Adani Group executives, though these timelines remain subject to market conditions.
The airports push also runs parallel to, and in some respects competes for capital with, AEL’s new energy ambitions. The ₹10,000 crore earmarked for green hydrogen in FY27 reflects Adani New Industries Limited’s stated objective of building a vertically integrated green hydrogen ecosystem. Both airports and new energy carry long gestation periods, and AEL’s transition to deriving 80 per cent of EBITDA from mature, contracted businesses is intended to provide the earnings stability that funds these two capital-intensive frontiers simultaneously.