Adani Group to invest ₹30,000 cr more in Navi Mumbai airport expansion

Adani group plans to invest an additional ₹30,000 crore to expand the Navi Mumbai International Airport, which is set to begin operations in December, senior executives at Adani Airport Holdings said ahead of the facility’s inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

The group has already invested about ₹20,000 crore in developing the greenfield airport and has started design work on the second terminal. The new investment will fund the next phase of expansion, which the company expects to complete by 2029.

“The design work for the second-phase terminal has already begun, and we expect to commission it by 2029,” an Adani Airport executive said.


The company plans to raise funds for this phase through a mix of debt and equity. Though Adani group plans to list the airport holding company, the executive did not indicate any timeline. The Maharashtra government holds a 26 per cent stake in the project, with the remainder owned by Adani group.

Once completed, the Navi Mumbai airport will have a total capacity of 90 million passengers per annum (mppa), making it India’s largest airport by capacity. The first phase, to be inaugurated this week, will operate with a single runway and handle 20 mppa, catering to both domestic and international flights from Day One.

The airport has already tied up with Akasa Air, IndiGo, and Air India for operations. “We have already announced our partnership with Akasa, IndiGo, and Air India, which pretty much fills up the capacity we have in the first phase,” the executive said. The initial phase will handle 20–23 aircraft movements per hour, with the flexibility to scale up as operations stabilise.

Connectivity has been a key focus. The recently opened Atal Setu reduces travel time between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to about 20 minutes, the executive said. Additional links are planned through Metro extensions and a proposed high-speed rail corridor between Mumbai and Hyderabad, which will pass near the airport’s eastern side.

Executives said the second phase, which will add capacity for 30 million passengers, will include a major cargo terminal and India’s largest maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, with five large hangars. When fully developed, the cargo terminal will be capable of handling 3.8 million tonnes per annum, positioning Navi Mumbai as one of the country’s largest cargo hubs.

“Our ambition is to make Mumbai and Navi Mumbai the hub for cargo. India doesn’t have a cargo hub today, and Navi Mumbai will play a big role in changing that,” the executive said.

The group also aims to establish Navi Mumbai as a passenger hub comparable to Dubai, leveraging Air India’s and IndiGo’s planned international expansion. The airport’s design will enable seamless international transfers, pending regulatory approval for direct ramp-to-ramp passenger and cargo transfers that bypass repeated security and Customs checks.

Spread across 1,160 hectares, the airport will ultimately house four terminals linked by automated people movers, underground fuel hydrant systems, and efficient cargo and passenger movement networks. Once all four terminals are operational, capacity could reach up to 100 mppa.

Adani group, which operates eight airports across India, is positioning Navi Mumbai as a cornerstone of its aviation strategy.

“With India’s economic growth, manufacturing expansion, and the need for a global aviation hub, Navi Mumbai will be central to meeting that aspiration,” an Adani executive said.