India’s Airport Boom Risks Getting Stuck On The Runway

Workers are rushing to complete construction at the Navi Mumbai International Airport with the September 30 deadline looming, after missing many previous deadlines. It’s a similar story thousands of kilometres away at the Noida International Airport in Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar, which is supposed to begin operations in November. Both these greenfield airports have dealt with supply issues and construction delays, with the airport in Jewar facing government penalties as well.

Both airports are part of India’s ambitious initiative to build more airports across the country. Under the Greenfield Airports Policy of 2008, the government has approved over 21 greenfield airports, with several operational ones including Kannur in Kerala, Pakyong in Sikkim, and Dholera in Gujarat.

The plan is to build 50 new airports by 2030 and scale up to 350 airports by 2047.

The airport infrastructure push is backed by a massive capital outlay of approximately Rs 98,000 crore ($11.8 billion) by 2025, covering greenfield construction, terminal upgrades, runway expansion, and modernisation efforts. Of this, Rs 25,000 crore is being invested by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), while the rest comes from private operators and Public-Private Partnership ventures.

This includes marquee greenfield projects like Navi Mumbai, Noida (Jewar), Dholera, and Bhogapuram, each with multi-phase investments ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 16,000 crore depending on scale and passenger capacity targets.

As India races to build dozens of swanky new airports, land and legal disputes, and bureaucratic hurdles have posed a big challenge. While India’s plans are ambitious, could these challenges disrupt the pace?

Dreams Vs Reality

Greenfield airports are built from scratch on undeveloped land, allowing planners to bypass legacy constraints and integrate modern tech, sustainability features, and the aerotropolis model.

India’s airport ambitions are also to develop “aerotropolises” around the new airports. They’re not just meant for mere passenger flow, but to become hubs of investment and trade.

But this is easier said than done.

Land acquisition is slow and often contested, while execution suffers from poor coordination across ministries and vendors. Public-private partnership (PPP) models bring in capital, but fragmented governance and reactive planning stall progress. Despite sleek designs and sustainability goals, bureaucratic inertia remains the biggest drag on delivery.

Another core tension in India’s airport privatisation story is the trade-off between infrastructure expansion and market concentration. Mumbai’s Adani-led duopoly risks pricing coordination and weak service incentives.

In contrast, Delhi’s split model — GMR controlling the Indira Gandhi International Airport and Zurich Airport developing Noida Airport in Jewar, offers a competitive blueprint for governance, passenger value, and airline leverage.

Lessons From The Past

India has done this before. The Hyderabad, Bengaluru (2008) and Kochi (1999) were built before the greenfield policy came about. They’re examples of how to navigate fragmented approvals, financing hurdles, and stakeholder friction.

Today, they serve as benchmarks. Kochi airport, opened in 1999, was built with NRI investment and state support. It was built with just Rs 300 crore, but it is now the world’s first fully solar-powered airport.

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport was the first one in India developed under the PPP model by GMR at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore. Inaugurated in 2008, it had to overcome land acquisition and environmental clearances. To expand traffic flow, the airport requires metro connectivity even as the state government is at a loss for funds.

Bangalore’s Kempe Gowda International Airport, also launched in 2008 by a Siemens–Zurich-led consortium, faced delays and refinancing challenges, crossing Rs 2,700 crore in cost before evolving into a major hub. Bengaluru now has dual terminals and a second runway.

Bengaluru and Hyderabad’s greenfield airports also taught India the value of scalable design, clear PPP frameworks, smart demand forecasting, and seamless operational readiness.

However, they also revealed blind spots, including weak urban connectivity, overreliance on non-aero revenue models, underplayed land acquisition risks, and regulatory uncertainty.

“The lesson not learned is that speed and synergy are non-negotiable. Future projects must build on these successes while confronting the overlooked complexities that could derail long-term viability,” former Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman VP Agarwal told The Core.

Among the lessons learned is that the lack of available land means more satellite airports should be allowed.

He said that restrictions barring new airports within 150 kilometres risk killing projects like Hosur, an MRO and manufacturing hub near Bengaluru.

Beaureacrtic Headwinds

Major projects, such as Goa’s Mopa airport, offer case studies in delays. It was held up by a Supreme Court stay on environmental clearance, poor public consultation, and late deployment of critical systems like ATC and Instrument Landing Systems, driving up costs and pushing timelines.

The airport in Navi Mumbai is two decades in the making, slowed down by land disputes and regulatory hurdles.

Noida International Airport is grappling with construction delays due to persistent waterlogging and a bottleneck in procuring special-grade steel for the terminal building. These setbacks have pushed the project past its revised timeline.

“States want speed, the Centre wants structure. This tension defines India’s greenfield airport rollout,” Kapil Sabharwal, a former senior executive of Delhi International Airport Limited, said. He said while states push for rapid rollout to unlock regional growth, the centre enforces layered approvals (site clearance, in-principal nod, defence NOCs).

The Greenfield Airports Policy mandates all proposals to route through a central Steering Committee, yet implementation hinges on state initiative and funding models.

Tech Gaps

Even when terminals are completed, operational gaps remain. For example, terrain-sensitive sites like Pakyong in Sikkim and Hollongi in Andhra Pradesh lack predictive weather and adaptive navigation tools, causing frequent disruptions.

Most airports still operate without centralised platforms for predictive maintenance, passenger flow modelling, or real-time disruption management, which is standard in global hubs. Even biometric boarding and AI crowd control remain patchy.

“Unlike older airports constrained by legacy systems, greenfield facilities are built from scratch with modern passenger processing technologies, self-service bag drops, and smoother transfers,” said Noida International Airport CEO Christoph Schnellmann.

Some progress is being made. Noida Airport is deploying the newest technologies for passenger processing and self-service bag drops. “The disadvantage is that we do not have the experience,” said Schnellmann.

Why It Matters

India’s passenger traffic is projected to grow 80% by 2029. Ideally, each greenfield project is supposed to be a catalyst for real estate, trade, and employment, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

The challenge for airports in India doesn’t lie in vision or even funding but in execution.

“Future projects must embed financial discipline, milestone-linked execution, and integrated planning to ensure returns match the scale of investment,” a consultant told The Core.