Adani group raises $250 million debt to fund development at six airports

The group has option to raise another $200 million under the existing facility

Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, has raised $250 million (approximately Rs 1,950 crore) from a consortium of Standard Chartered and Barclays Bank, with the option to raise another $200 million (approximately Rs 1,560 crore), it said in a statement on Monday.

The funds raised through a senior secured three-year external commercial borrowing facility are to be used for capital expenditure (capex) and the development of the six airports it manages under public-private partnership.

This transaction marks the completion of the first step of the capital management plan of AAHL, which also includes plans to tap the capital markets and raise debt via bonds for long-term financing of aviation sector projects.

Adani Group has raised over $9 billion in offshore bonds for its port, power transmission, and green energy bus¬inesses in the past five years. The group is already the biggest private airport operator in India, running seven airports — Mumbai, Ahm¬edabad, Jaipur, Luck¬now, Guwahati, Mangaluru, and Thiruvananthapuram.

While Adani Group took over Mumbai airport from GVK last year, it won the bid to operate six Airports Authority of India airports on a 50-year lease in 2020-21.

The group is also developing the greenfield Navi Mu¬mbai airport and tied up a Rs 12,770-crore loan from State Bank of India to fund the project.

“We are focused on delivering high quality infrastructure access to our consumers — both through physical and digital channels,” said a spokesperson for AAHL.

Last month, the group completed the runway recarpeting at Ahmedabad airport. It is the busiest airport in Gujarat, logging over 200 daily flights prior to the pandemic. Ahmedabad airport also has a new airfield lighting system.

Amenities are also being improved and measures and steps taken for passenger convenience like easy availability of trolleys at Lucknow and Guwahati airports. New food and beverage and retail outlets have been opened at Guwahati airport, according to a local media report.

The latest debt-raising comes on the back of $750 million (Rs 5,850 crore) raised through a private placement by Mumbai International Airport last week for refinancing and capex. Raised from Apollo Global, a majority of its proceeds will be used to finance shorter maturity loans. The group also plans to upgrade amenities and undertake repair and maintenance of facilities at Mumbai airport with the expressed purpose of improving passenger experience.

Adani Group said that the first phase of its capital management plan of action has been set in motion with funds tied up for operational and under-construction airports. “We will now focus on scaling up the airport business into one of the largest airport platforms globally,” added AAHL.

The group’s airports have 50 per cent market share of the top 10 domestic routes, 23 per cent of the country’s total air traffic, as well as 30 per cent of India’s air cargo traffic.