Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, AAHL is reportedly gearing up to raise around $1 billion in equity from international investors as it looks to fuel its next phase of growth and explore acquisition opportunities. If it goes through, this would mark the first time the airport arm of the Adani Group brings in an external investor.

“Everyone wants to do airports with us,” said Sagar Adani, Executive Director at Adani Green Energy and nephew of group chairman Gautam Adani. According to him, investors from the US, Middle East, and Australia have all shown interest in the business.

AAHL, which is wholly owned by Adani Enterprises Ltd, is currently valued at about $20 billion, nearly double the market cap of its rival GMR Airports, which runs key hubs like Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, and Nagpur.

And there’s reason for all the investor interest. India’s air traffic is booming.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recorded a 10.35% year-on-year jump in domestic air passenger traffic for FY25, with airlines carrying 14.54 million flyers. Ratings agency CareEdge sees this momentum continuing, projecting a 9% CAGR in passenger volumes through FY27, taking the tally to 485 million.

–And Adani’s bet is to ride this growth wave hard.

The group already operates seven airports – Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram – and is nearly done building the Navi Mumbai International Airport, set to open this August. The plan is to triple passenger-handling capacity over the next 15 years.

Right now, AAHL is fully funded, but as CFO Jugeshinder Singh explains, the group is weighing whether this is the right time to bring in fresh equity or wait a few years post build-out when valuations are more firmly established.

“There’s no decision yet. We’re still asking ourselves if now is the right moment or whether to hold off for two-three years,” Singh said.

Competitor GMR had earlier this year locked in a ₹6,300 crore deal with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) to cut debt at its promoter company. Adani, too, is keeping an eye on potential acquisitions  – both domestic and global.

“We’re open to deals internationally as well, especially where there’s a strong Indian diaspora flying in and out,” Singh added.

Interestingly, AAHL is also expected to be spun off into a separate subsidiary within the next couple of years, with an IPO likely to follow.

In FY25, AAHL served 94 million passengers, a 7% rise from the previous year. And if the trends are anything to go by, the numbers are only headed one way: up.

Gautam Adani Heads to China Amid Legal Headwinds, Eyes Renewable Push and Tighter Manufacturing Ties

Meanwhile, in what’s being seen as a diplomatic and business move, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani made a rare overseas trip last week – to China – to meet with industrial equipment manufacturers. This is the first time he has traveled abroad since the U.S. slapped criminal and civil charges on him and his nephew Sagar Adani in November last year.

The visit, which included a stop at a solar module manufacturer, signals Adani’s intent to keep pushing ahead with his massive renewable energy ambitions despite the mounting scrutiny. Sagar Adani, who leads the green energy vertical for the group, accompanied him, according to a social media post from one of the Chinese companies they visited.

While the legal cloud in the U.S. – involving alleged bribery of $250 million to secure solar contracts in India, still hangs over both Gautam and Sagar, the duo’s China visit may mark the start of a more assertive international engagement after a period of relative quiet.

The Adani Group has denied all allegations, but both have kept travel to a minimum since the indictments surfaced. Still, the trip is telling of what’s at stake – the group is currently building one of the world’s largest renewable energy parks, reportedly five times the size of Paris – on India’s western coast, packed with solar panels and wind turbines.

During the visit, Gautam Adani toured Jinko Solar Co.’s factory, checking out its automated lines and energy storage tech. The Shanghai-based firm noted that its solutions are designed to withstand India’s extreme temperatures and will be integrated into Adani’s grid-stabilizing renewable projects.

Another stop on the tour was Broad Group, a Chinese conglomerate that includes a wind turbine subsidiary. A post on X by the company confirmed the visit.

The timing of this trip is interesting for more reasons than one. For starters, Adani’s renewable ambitions are tightly aligned with two of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s major goals – achieving carbon neutrality by 2070 and reducing dependence on foreign manufacturing. India, notably, is a major market for Chinese solar modules, so the Adani-China dialogue could also hint at renewed economic cooperation between the two Asian heavyweights.

While geopolitical tensions between India and China have been high in recent years, particularly after deadly border clashes, relations seem to be slowly warming. In January, the two countries agreed to resume direct flights and streamline visas. They’ve also resumed sharing data on trans-border rivers. More recently, a paused annual pilgrimage to Tibet – organized by India’s foreign ministry – was allowed to resume.

Therefore, the takeaway here –  Adani is not just chasing solar panels, he is also steering the fragile geopolitical and reputational terrain to keep his empire moving, both at home and abroad.

Sagar Adani’s $100 Billion Playbook 

Sagar Adani, the younger face of the Adani empire and nephew of Gautam Adani, is now steering the conglomerate’s long-term vision and it’s nothing short of monumental. In a bold outline of what’s next, as mentioned above, Sagar revealed that the Adani Group is targeting over $100 billion in infrastructure investments over the next six years, with a sharp focus on aligning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Viksit Bharat” goal, a fully developed India by 2047.

Speaking about the group’s expansion path, Sagar outlined that India needs serious hard infrastructure if it wants to compete with the likes of the U.S., China or the EU. He cited America’s iconic interstate highway system, China’s explosive expressway rollout, and Europe’s Marshall Plan as key examples of how nations fast-tracked their development through big-ticket physical investments.

The Adani Group’s multi-sector strategy covers a staggering spectrum: renewable energy, thermal power, energy storage, long-range transmission lines, data centers, airports, seaports, roads, railways, water infrastructure, and even materials like cement, copper and PVC. Recent deals like the acquisition of ITDC and PSP Projects show the group is not just talking, it’s already laying down concrete.

Currently, Adani Group accounts for about 5% of India’s market capitalisation, and Sagar says the aim is to grab a significant slice of the value generated as India grows into a $30–35 trillion economy by 2047.

“Infrastructure creation is foundational to India’s rise as a developed economy, and the Adani Group is committed to being the engine behind this transformation,” said Sagar. He also noted that India still trails global benchmarks in electricity usage, urbanisation and port handling capacity, critical gaps the group wants to help close.

The plan is $20 billion in investments annually, driven by disciplined capital deployment and aggressive execution. But Sagar also knows scale needs support, so the group is banking on strategic alliances across regulatory, financial, and industrial ecosystems to pull this off.

“This is not just an ambition. For us, building a developed India is an achievable, measurable mission,” he added.