As bids open for 11 more airports, the debate around airport privatization in India grows louder and sharper. The government insists it is pushing efficiency and modernisation. Yet critics argue that the pattern reveals something deeper—a steady transfer of strategic public assets to a handful of politically connected private players.
With Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. already controlling the highest number of airports and GMR leading in passenger traffic, the field is unsurprisingly tilted toward the same big players again. And this isn’t coincidence. It is the result of a model that bundles loss-making airports with profitable ones, practically ensuring only conglomerates with deep pockets—and deep political ties—can win.
So the real question is not whether private firms can run airports better. The question is why the government refuses to invest in improving its own infrastructure, and who truly benefits from this aggressive privatization push.
Why Is Airport Privatization in India Always Benefiting the Same Players?
Critics across the industry point to an emerging pattern: major public assets repeatedly end up with groups perceived as close to the ruling establishment. The Adani Group, in particular, went from having no airports in 2018 to becoming India’s largest airport operator in just five years.
This meteoric rise coincided with decisions from the Centre that relaxed norms, extended leases, gave regulatory waivers, and allowed a single bidder to sweep multiple airports in one go. Opposition parties and aviation experts argue that this is more than just market efficiency—it reflects political patronage in high-value infrastructure sectors.
Moreover, bundling tactics make it almost impossible for smaller, independent airport operators to compete. When a profitable metro airport is tied with a remote, loss-making airstrip, the field narrows dramatically. The few who remain are the ones aligned with the Centre’s economic vision—or its political comfort.
Yet the biggest concern is broader:
Is privatization becoming a convenient way to transfer monopoly control from the State to corporations that maintain political proximity?
And in doing so, is India quietly shifting from public ownership to private dominance over essential infrastructure?
Why Can’t the Government Strengthen Its Own Airports Instead?
The irony is striking. India’s public airports—especially those run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI)—have shown strong financial performance. Several are profitable, expanding, and technologically competent. So why privatize aggressively?
Because privatization offers something that public investment doesn’t:
long-term control.
Under the new model, private operators get 50-year leases—effectively two generations of monopoly revenue. And with every asset passed on, the State loses leverage while the private sector gains unprecedented control over pricing, passenger experience, staffing, and commercial land.
If the government can spend lakhs of crores on highways, bullet trains, and flyovers, why not upgrade its own airports?
Why not invest in AAI instead of hollowing it out?
The answer, critics say, lies in political economics—not public interest.
- Privatization reduces transparency.
- It shifts power away from public institutions.
- It concentrates wealth in select private hands.
And when the same select hands repeatedly benefit, concerns of vested interest are no longer theoretical—they are structural.
The Big Question
As these 11 airports go under the hammer, one question echoes across the aviation sector:
Is airport privatization in India truly about progress—or a political project to reshape ownership in favour of a few?
A seasoned journalist with over 30 years of rich and diverse experience in print and electronic media, Prabha’s professional stints include working with Sahara English Magazine, Pioneer and JAIN TV and All India Radio. She has also been writing in Pioneer. She has also produced several documentary films through her self-owned production house Gajpati Communications. She is also the Station Director of Aligarh-based FM Radio Station, and the General Secretary of WADA NGO.
