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Port-to-power behemoth Adani Group is set to enter the airport business with an international airport at Mundra, Gujarat. The group has firmed up plans to upgrade the existing airstrip at Mundra to a full-fledged commercial airport with integrated cargo and aerospace operations.
The conglomerate, which has received environmental clearance for the project, plans to invest around Rs 1,500 crore in it. In 2008, the government allowed fully owned private airports without any equity participation from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). However, central agencies will oversee functions like navigation, security, customs, and immigration in such airports. The Adani Group, through its subsidiary Mundra International Airport Private Ltd (MIAPL), will operate the airport to cash in on the corporate traffic in Mundra, which is fast developing into a business hub. Besides that, with Ahmedabad being the only airport in Gujarat with prime international connectivity, the group believes there is potential for the airport to provide direct connectivity to a large expat Gujarati population.
According to documents filed with the environment ministry, the group plans to upgrade the airstrip to a runway capable of handling large passenger aircraft like Boeing 747 and Airbus A350. A passenger terminal building with a capacity of 300 passengers, to be increased in the future, will also be constructed.
There are also plans to develop the airport as a hub for cargo operations and maintenance and night-landing facility for aircraft. A separate cargo terminal will be developed to capitalise on the requirement of business houses in the Mundra special economic zone (SEZ) to export their goods.
“The airport has potential to develop into a modern state-of-the-art international airport capable of serving the requirements of cargo hub centre, MRO facilities, and assembly-line facilities for various aircraft,” says the feasibility report of the project.
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