The Centre has granted in-principle approval for the privatization of 11 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports, marking the next major phase of India’s airport privatization program. The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) approved the proposal for five airport bundles at its August 4, 2026 meeting, according to government records. The airports will be offered through public-private partnerships, with larger and financially stronger airports bundled with smaller airports to improve the latter’s commercial viability.
Importantly, the approval does not mean Adani Enterprises has been awarded these 11 airports. The airports are still to go through a competitive bidding process, and the government is considering a cap on how many bundles a single bidder can win. The move comes after the Finance Ministry raised concerns about the increasingly concentrated nature of India’s aviation industry, where Adani Airport Holdings and GMR Airports together account for more than half of passenger traffic.
11 Airports To Be Offered In Five Bundles
The government’s new privatization model groups major airports with smaller airports rather than offering each facility independently. The objective is to allow profits from high-traffic airports to cross-subsidize operations and capital expenditure at smaller, potentially loss-making airports.
The five proposed bundles contain 11 airports across several regions of India.
Airport Bundles Approved By The Government
| Bundle | Airports | Number of Airports |
|---|---|---|
| Bundle 1 | Amritsar, Kangra | 2 |
| Bundle 2 | Varanasi, Gaya, Kushinagar | 3 |
| Bundle 3 | Bhubaneswar, Hubballi | 2 |
| Bundle 4 | Raipur, Aurangabad | 2 |
| Bundle 5 | Tiruchirappalli, Tirupati | 2 |
| Total | 11 airports | 11 |
The bundling strategy is intended to make the overall concession more attractive to private operators while ensuring that smaller airports receive investment and professional management alongside larger traffic-generating facilities.
Adani Has Not Yet Won The 11 Airports
The reference to Adani Enterprises is important because the company has become India’s largest private airport operator by network size. However, the latest government approval should not be interpreted as an award to Adani.
The government has approved the privatization framework, not a particular private operator. A competitive bidding process will determine which companies ultimately receive the airport concessions.
The government’s decision to consider a bidder cap is particularly significant. The Civil Aviation Ministry told the Finance Ministry that the number of bundles awarded to a single bidder would be capped to address risks associated with market concentration and excessive leverage. The precise number of bundles that one bidder will be permitted to win has not yet been finalized.
Approval Vs. Award
| Stage | Current Status |
|---|---|
| Proposal for 11 airports | Approved in principle |
| Five airport bundles | Approved |
| Competitive bidding | Yet to take place |
| Winning operators | Not decided |
| Adani Enterprises | Eligible to bid, but no award yet |
| Bidder concentration cap | Under finalization |
| Concession structure | PPP |
| Proposed concession period | 50 years |
This distinction is important for investors and the aviation industry because the eventual ownership and operating landscape will depend on the outcome of the bidding process.
Why The Government Is Bundling Airports
The airport bundling model addresses a long-standing challenge in infrastructure privatization: commercially attractive airports can draw substantial private interest, while smaller airports may struggle to generate enough revenue to justify large investments.
Under the new approach, a profitable or high-traffic airport is paired with one or more smaller airports.
Airport Bundling Model
High-Traffic Airport
│
│ Generates Stronger Revenue
▼
Private Concessionaire
│
├──────────────► Investment
│
▼
Smaller Airport
│
▼
Cross-Subsidised Operations
+ Infrastructure Development
+ Better Passenger Facilities
The government expects this model to encourage private operators to take responsibility for airports that may have lower passenger volumes but significant regional and economic importance.
The five bundles were designed after considering factors including passenger traffic, land availability, commercial potential, financial performance, capital expenditure requirements, geographic proximity and city-side development potential.
Finance Ministry Raises Oligopoly Concerns
The latest privatization round is taking place against a very different competitive backdrop from India’s earlier airport privatization exercises.
The Finance Ministry explicitly flagged the “oligopolistic nature” of India’s aviation sector during the PPPAC meeting. It asked the Civil Aviation Ministry how the government intended to limit risks arising from market concentration and over-leveraging.
The concern is that if one or two large companies win a disproportionate number of airport bundles, their financial exposure could become highly concentrated across multiple projects. Problems at one group could potentially have implications across several airports.
The Civil Aviation Ministry responded that a cap on the number of bundles awarded to one bidder would be introduced, although the final mechanism was still being worked out.
India’s Airport Market
| Operator | Network Position | Approx. Passenger Traffic Share |
|---|---|---|
| Adani Airport Holdings | Largest private airport network | 24–25% |
| GMR Airports | Major private operator | ~27.5% |
| Adani + GMR | Combined | More than 50% |
| Airports Authority of India | 129 airports managed | Government operator |
Adani Airport Holdings operates eight airports and accounts for roughly 24–25% of India’s passenger traffic and about 33% of air cargo, according to the government discussion record reported by Business Standard. GMR Airports has approximately 27.5% of passenger traffic. Together, the two private operators handle more than half of India’s air passengers.
Adani Already Has A Major Airport Footprint
Adani’s position in India’s airport industry stems partly from the previous major privatization round.
In 2019, the government awarded Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports to Adani Enterprises under 50-year PPP concessions after the company emerged as the highest bidder. The subsequent airport privatization process also resulted in Adani taking over Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram.
Government records show that Adani-related companies now operate six airports from that privatization round, while Mumbai airport is also part of the group’s airport network.
The scale of that existing network explains why the government is now examining whether a single bidder should be allowed to win multiple bundles in the new round.
What The Bidding Process Will Look Like
The government plans to use a one-stage short-listing process, with the bidding parameter based on the per-passenger fee for domestic passenger throughput.
International passenger fees will be set at twice the domestic passenger fee under the proposed structure. Each bundle will be awarded to a single concessionaire, according to the government record.
This approach differs from simply selling the airports as assets. The private operator would receive rights to operate, manage and develop the airports under a long-term concession.
Proposed Concession Framework
| Feature | Proposed Structure |
|---|---|
| Number of airports | 11 |
| Number of bundles | 5 |
| Operator selection | Competitive bidding |
| Concessionaire | One operator per bundle |
| Domestic passenger fee | Main bidding parameter |
| International passenger fee | 2× domestic fee |
| Operating model | Public-private partnership |
| Concession period | 50 years |
| Ownership | AAI/government assets remain under PPP framework |
The 50-year structure gives private operators a long enough period to recover capital expenditure and develop commercial businesses around the airports.
Why The Airports Matter Regionally
The airports being offered are spread across important tourism, business and regional markets.
Varanasi is a major religious and tourism destination, while Tirupati and Amritsar also have significant religious tourism demand. Bhubaneswar serves as an important gateway to Odisha, and Raipur is a major commercial center in central India.
Smaller airports such as Kangra, Gaya, Kushinagar, Hubballi and Aurangabad can potentially benefit from private investment in terminals, passenger services, retail, parking, cargo and other airport-related infrastructure.
The government therefore views privatization as more than an operating arrangement. The broader objective is to bring private capital and management expertise into airport development while allowing AAI to focus resources on other airports.
AAI Will Continue To Play A Major Role
The privatization of 11 airports does not mean the Airports Authority of India is being dismantled.
AAI remains one of India’s largest airport operators. It currently manages 129 airports, according to the government record cited by Business Standard.
Private concessions can also generate revenue for AAI through the contractual payment structure. Earlier airport PPP programs were explicitly designed to increase AAI’s revenues while allowing private operators to invest in and operate airport infrastructure.
This creates a model in which AAI remains a major public-sector airport institution while private operators take responsibility for selected high-potential assets.
The Bigger Picture
The approval of 11 airports for the next privatization round signals that India is continuing to shift toward a mixed public-private airport infrastructure model. The bundling strategy is particularly important because it attempts to solve two problems at once: attracting private investment into smaller airports and preventing the most commercially attractive assets from being separated from less profitable facilities.
At the same time, the Finance Ministry’s concern over oligopoly highlights the limits of consolidation. Adani and GMR already control more than half of India’s passenger traffic, so the government’s proposed bidder cap could become a key feature of the next airport privatization round. The final rules will determine whether India’s airport expansion produces a wider group of private operators or further strengthens the existing leaders.
Looking Ahead
The immediate next step is to finalize the bidding framework, including the cap on how many airport bundles a single bidder can win. Once the tender process begins, companies such as Adani and other infrastructure and airport operators are expected to assess the commercial attractiveness of each bundle. The winning bidders will then receive long-term rights to operate, manage and develop the airports under the PPP framework.
For Adani Enterprises, the opportunity is significant but the outcome is far from certain. The group already has extensive airport experience and a large operating network, but the government’s concentration safeguards could limit the number of bundles it can secure. For the wider aviation sector, the 11-airport privatization round could determine how India’s next generation of airport infrastructure is financed, operated and distributed among private players over the coming decades.
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