Adani Enterprises Arm To Invest Rs 10,000 Crore In Airport Business

Adani Enterprises Ltd., the flagship firm of Adani Group, has committed an investment of Rs 10,000 crore for airport business by 2026, a company top official has said.

AEL's arm Adani Airports Ltd. had won bids for six airports recently.

The government last month said the Airports Authority of India has issued letters of award for handing over Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports to Adani Enterprises after the Cabinet nod.

"We have committed roughly about Rs 10,000 crore investment over a period of seven years for the airports business," said Jugeshinder Singh, chief financial officer of AEL, after declaration of the company's earnings on Thursday.

He said that of the Rs 10,000 crore, the company will make an upfront payment of Rs 3,600 crore for six airport projects and incur a capital expenditure of about Rs 6,000 crore over seven years.

He said the three airport projects will start generating revenues from April 2020.

Adani Airports had won bids for six airports. The government in 2018 had accorded 'in-principle' approval for leasing of six airports of the AAI -- Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Mangaluru and Thiruvanathapuram -- for operation, management and development through a public-private partnership mode.

However, last month, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said the government still has to take a call on Thiruvananthapuram airport.

On July 24 during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, he said a decision has been taken to proceed with privatisation of three of these airports but as far as the airport in Kerala is concerned, "the chief minister has written to not privatise this".

"We will have to take a call based on the facts on record and bid received. The Kerala government has requested not to privatise the operation of this airport," he had said.

Earlier, former Union minister AK Antony urged him to take the request of the state government as a special case, to which Puri said the Centre had received all shades of opinions including the request by the "chief minister that the airport be handed over to the state government for operation."

About Guwahati and Jaipur airports, Puri had said there were some legal land issues which have been more or less resolved and a call will be taken.

Puri had said based on global tenders, the AAI has issued letters of award for handing over Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports to Adani Enterprises.

He had added that the AAI will continue to carry statutory functions of providing communication navigation surveillance, air traffic management services, et cetera, of these airports.