GMR Airports Ltd., the primary rival of Adani Group’s airport operation, intends to invest up to ₹19,400 crore ($2 billion) to enhance its New Delhi and Hyderabad facilities, indicating optimistic projections for India's aviation sector in the next ten years.

The investments, planned over the next five to seven years, are intended to enhance capacity and upgrade infrastructure to accommodate the swiftly increasing passenger numbers, stated Saurabh Chawla, the company's executive director for finance and strategy, in an interview.

The proposals arise as demand is rapidly increasing in the third-largest domestic aviation market globally, following the US and China. India's air traffic is expected to expand six times to about 1.1 billion travelers in the next 14 years, with the commercial airline fleet anticipated to rise from 400 aircraft in 2014 to over 2,350 planes by 2040, based on government projections.

The firm is allocating roughly ₹13,800 crore for Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad's southern industrial center and up to ₹5,600 crore for the airport in New Delhi, Chawla mentioned. The funding for the investments will come from a combination of debt and equity from the individual airport ventures and will not be directly linked to GMR Airports, the parent company.

Upon completion, Hyderabad’s enhanced airport will have the capacity to host approximately 80 million passengers, which is more than twice its existing yearly total of 34 million travelers.

GMR Airports is the biggest airport operator in India based on the annual number of passengers, while its competitor Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. holds the title for the most airports. The Adani group aims to invest $15 billion to enhance passenger capacity at its aviation facilities within the next five years, Bloomberg News reported in December.

Chawla mentioned that the expansions in New Delhi and Hyderabad could be the initial step of a modernization initiative at GMR Airports, which operates six airports in India, one in the Philippines, and one currently being built in Greece.

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"Discussions are ongoing regarding investment plans for the new airport in Nagpur, which was recently acquired in June 2026," he stated.

GMR Airports, with 26.5% ownership by France’s Aeroports de Paris SA, will concentrate on competing for domestic airport projects the Indian government intends to privatize, Chawla mentioned, noting that there are currently no talks concerning the redevelopment of international airport projects.

The senior executive stated that the GMR Group, based in Hyderabad, is not interested in entering the airline industry, even if the Indian government modifies regulations to allow it.

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India is contemplating a policy shift that would permit airport operators to manage airlines, Bloomberg reported last month. The government aims to enhance competition since two airlines—IndiGo and Air India—dominate almost 90% of the domestic market.

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“We have no interest,” Chawla stated, indicating the group aims to concentrate on its primary airport business and associated activities like aircraft maintenance and real estate development near its aviation sites.