A letter from Adani Airports to the Airports Authority of India seeking permission to hold equity in a scheduled airline has surfaced weeks after Adani Enterprises told stock exchanges any airline plan was “entirely baseless.”
The contradiction became public after Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra shared the letter, dated June 4, on social media, accusing the Adani Group of misleading investors. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has since confirmed to parliament that a waiver request tied to the matter was indeed received, even as it stopped short of describing any decision on whether to grant it.
A Letter That Contradicts a Denial
According to the letter Moitra shared, Adani Airports asked the AAI for a waiver from a 2006 airport-privatisation clause that restricts operators of certain major airports from holding significant stakes in scheduled airlines. According to the letter, the Existing Restriction under the Operation, Management and Development Agreement (“OMDA”) dated 04 April 2006 executed between Airports Authority of India (“AAI”) and Mumbai International Airport Limited (“MIAL”) provides as follows:
“Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the JVC hereby undertakes and agrees that at no point during the Term of this Agreement shall the aggregate shareholding of Scheduled Airlines and their respective Group Entities (other than such Group Entities that were airport operators on the date of the issue of the Invitation to Register an Expression of Interest and the Request for Proposal documents issued by AA: during the competitive bidding procedure undertaken by AAI for the purposes of the selection of the private participants in the JVC) exceed ten (10) percent of the total issued and paid-up capital of the JVC. “
The request specifically sought clearance for Adani Defence & Aerospace and its affiliates to invest in, establish, acquire, own, promote or control an airline, along with permission to secure an Air Operator Certificate and related approvals from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
That timeline sits awkwardly next to Adani Enterprises’ July 24 filing to the BSE and NSE, which described reports that the group was evaluating an airline as “entirely baseless and factually incorrect.” The Economic Times first reported the discrepancy between the two documents, and Moitra’s public posting of the letter has kept the story alive well into August.
What the Letter Reportedly Requested
The letter, reportedly signed by Adani Airport Holdings chief executive Arun Bansal, framed the waiver request as removing a restriction that prevents airport operators with proven capability from also participating in airline operations. The letter further read that it “respectfully request AAI to grant an appropriate waiver, consent. approval and/or clarification under Clause 2.50001) of the OMDA and any other relevant provisions of applicable concession, lease, operation, management or development agreements, to permit“:
1. Adani Defence & Aerospace and/or its affiliates to directly or indirectly invest in. establish, acquire, own, promote and/or control a Scheduled Airline in India:
2. Any airport operator within the Adani Group and/or its affiliates to hold equity. directly or indirectly, in a Scheduled Airline;
3. Such airline entity to obtain and maintain an Air Operator Certificate and all related approvals from DGCA, Ministry of Civil Aviation and other competent authorities: and
4. Continuation of such ownership structure notwithstanding any provision in existing agreements that may otherwise be interpreted as restricting such participation
The document also tied the proposal to Adani Defence & Aerospace’s work with Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, which the group has separately pursued to build regional aircraft manufacturing capability in India. A next-generation regional airline, the letter suggested, could combine that manufacturing push with the group’s existing airport infrastructure to close connectivity gaps that current carriers have left unaddressed.
Government Confirms Waiver Request, Stops Short of a Decision
The waiver request moved from social media speculation to official record on August 10, when Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirmed in the Rajya Sabha that AAI had received a request seeking relief from the relevant contractual restriction.
Responding to a question from CPI(M) MP John Brittas, Mohol said there is no blanket government policy barring airport operators from holding equity in airlines, though some individual concession agreements carry their own restrictions.
Mohol, who was quoted in The Indian Express, added that “the matter has not yet been examined” by the ministry, and the government did not disclose whether it had consulted the Competition Commission of India, the DGCA or the AAI on the competitive and conflict-of-interest implications Brittas had asked about.
“There is no such Government Policy restricting operators of major airports from holding substantial equity in or operating scheduled airlines. However, the extant contractual agreements relating to some airports under Public Private Partnership (PPP) contain certain restrictions on scheduled airlines and their group entities/associates from holding Equity Share of the Concessionaires…Request seeking waiver of the relevant agreement provision has been received by Airports Authority of India (AAI). The matter has not yet been examined by the Ministry of Civil Aviation,”
That leaves the request in a holding pattern, officially acknowledged but formally unassessed.
IndiGo Raises Conflict-of-Interest Concerns
The prospect of an airport operator entering the airline business has already drawn public pushback from Adani’s would-be competitors. IndiGo (6E) managing director Rahul Bhatia told analysts on the carrier’s first-quarter earnings call that there was no global precedent for the arrangement and that it would typically create a “massive conflict of interest.” Bhatia said the eventual impact would depend on whether the reports proved accurate and whether existing rules were actually changed.
The concern centres on an airport operator potentially holding influence over slots, ground handling access and commercially sensitive data belonging to rival airlines that use its facilities. Government officials have said any rule change under consideration would include safeguards limiting shared management and restricting the flow of sensitive information between airport and airline arms, though no such framework has been published in detail.
Adani’s Deepening Footprint in India’s Airports
The waiver request lands against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Adani airport business. The group already operates eight airports in India, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai, and has committed roughly ₹1 lakh crore to infrastructure upgrades across its portfolio over the next five years. Aviation has become the largest single segment within Adani Enterprises’ broader capital spending plan, with ₹17,000 crore earmarked for airports alone in the current financial year.
That scale is precisely why critics view the airline question as more than a routine regulatory request. An operator that already controls a significant share of India’s privatised airport capacity, and is simultaneously investing in regional aircraft manufacturing, would gain a materially different competitive position if it were also permitted to run a scheduled airline through the same corporate structure.
What Happens Next
Adani Enterprises has not withdrawn or amended its July 24 denial since the June letter became public, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation has given no timeline for examining the waiver request. Any change to the underlying concession agreements would likely require Cabinet approval given their contractual nature, adding a further layer of process before any airline plan, if one exists, could move forward.
For now, the dispute leaves two documents on the public record that are difficult to reconcile: a letter seeking the regulatory door to be opened, and a stock-exchange filing insisting no one at the company is looking to walk through it.
