Adani Airports raises ₹9,825 crore from four investors at $18 billion valuation

Mumbai: Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL) is raising Rs 9,825 crore ($1 billion) from four investors at a pre-money equity valuation of about $18 billion, the company said on Wednesday. The entire amount will be a primary infusion. The fresh capital will be used for airport expansion and modernisation, among other things.

AAHL plans to increase annual passenger-handling capacity to about 200 million, from about half that last year at its eight airports.

The company may raise another billion dollars in the coming months as it expands its business in India and possibly seek global opportunities, said people aware of the matter.


“The investor consortium comprises Alpha Wave Global, Premji Invest, Temasek and BlackRock managed funds,” AAHL said in a press release.

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The company said the $18 billion figure establishes “a significant external institutional valuation benchmark for the airports platform.”

Valuation as per Potential

AAHL didn’t disclose specific amounts involved.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, Alpha Wave Global led the round with $450 million. Premji Invest, the family office of Azim Premji, invested $300 million. Temasek, the Singapore government’s investment firm, and BlackRock contributed the rest. The investments will be made in three parts, with the final one expected by July 2027. Once completed, the investors will collectively hold about 5.54% in Adani Airport Holdings.

The money will also go into airport city ecosystems besides passenger-facing and other non-aeronautical businesses including ground handling, AAHL said.

ET reported in May that Temasek and Alpha Wave Global were among four entities in talks to invest about $1.3 billion in Adani Airport at a valuation of around $18 billion.

AAHL is the holding company of the airport vertical and is a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises (AEL). The transaction follows AEL’s successful 15,000 crore qualified institutional placement in July 2026.

“India’s aviation sector is one of the most powerful multipliers of the country’s GDP growth. Every expansion in air connectivity catalyses trade, tourism, employment and regional development well beyond the airport gate,” said Jeet Adani, non-executive director at AAHL. “With the backing of these partners, we will continue to invest ahead of that growth, scaling our infrastructure, city-side developments and non-aeronautical businesses.”

The valuation is being set against a business that has grown passenger traffic and commercial revenue. AAHL reported total income of 13,081 crore in FY26, up 28% from 10,224 crore in FY25.

Ebitda rose 55% to 5,394 crore, while profit before tax was 1,427 crore compared with a loss of 5 crore a year earlier. That translates to an Ebitda multiple of about 31.7 times. AAHL generated about 6,401 crore of non-aeronautical revenue in FY26. Non-aero income per passenger rose 30% year-on-year to 672.

The company’s eight airports handled 95.3 million passengers in FY26, up from 94.4 million in FY25. They accounted for about 24% of India’s passenger traffic. Aircraft movements stood at 619,000 and cargo volumes rose 7% to 1.17 million tonnes. A large part of the growth case is the company’s push into non-aeronautical revenue, which includes duty-free, food and beverage, retail, lounges, parking and advertising.

“The higher valuation is also because Adani Airport has higher revenue potential per passenger in India, especially from non-aeronautical businesses,” a person familiar with the company said. “The big opportunity is on the city side, with revenue coming from duty-free, food and beverage, retail, IP-led businesses and hotels, rather than just airport charges.”

Jefferies, SBI Capital Markets and Ernst & Young LLP were the advisors in the transaction.

Adani Airport Holdings is developing commercial real estate around its airports. Its first phase of airport city development covers about 22 million sq ft and involves about 600 acres, according to a person familiar with the plans. The group has previously outlined an investment of about 20,000 crore for the first phase of its non-aeronautical and city-side development.

The company expects these businesses to add another source of revenue to its airport portfolio. Individual non-aero businesses could eventually generate around $100 million each, the person said.

Navi Mumbai International Airport, which began commercial operations in December 2025, currently has an initial annual capacity of 20 million passengers. The airport is expected to add capacity as traffic builds and further phases are developed.

The $18 billion pre-money valuation puts AAHL below Aena, which has a market capitalisation of about $44.1 billion, and Airports of Thailand, at about $28.5 billion, according to Bloomberg data as on Wednesday. Aéroports de Paris has a market value of about $13.1 billion. However, major airport operators Changi Airport Group and Dubai Airports are not listed, so their valuations cannot be directly compared with AAHL’s equity valuation.

Aena operates 46 airports and two heliports in Spain, as well as London Luton Airport, Leeds Bradford Airport and 17 airports in Brazil. Its network handled 230.9 million passengers in the first seven months of 2026. Airports of Thailand operates six airports and handled 99.03 million passenger movements in the first nine months of its financial year through June 2026.

AAHL’s valuation is also about 50-55% above GMR Airports’ current market capitalisation of around 1.03 lakh crore. The two companies are not directly comparable because their debt levels, concession structures and airport portfolios differ.

The investors have existing exposure to aviation or infrastructure. Temasek holds stakes in Singapore Airlines and SATS. Its 50% stake in Singapore Airlines was worth about S$10.4 billion and its 40% holding in SATS about S$2.1 billion based on their March 2026 market values. Singapore Airlines owns 25.1% of Air India.

Premji Invest has invested in Akasa Air. BlackRock has airport exposure through Global Infrastructure Partners, which it acquired in 2024. GIP’s portfolio includes Gatwick Airport. BlackRock-managed funds also hold debt issued by Indian airports, including Mumbai International Airport.

“We are delighted to partner with Adani Group to support India’s next phase of aviation growth,” said TK Kurien, chief executive and managing partner at Premji Invest.

Alpha Wave Global is backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security advisor of UAE. It’s invested in technology startups in India and overseas including Delhivery, Uber, Lyft and Ola. It has indirect exposure to aviation through Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, a joint investment platform involving Alpha Wave Global and Mubadala Capital, which has committed $100 million to aircraft-leasing platform Sirius Aviation Capital.