Mumbai’s 2nd airport with $2 bn investment set to make India a transit hub

The Adani Group-helmed $2.1 billion project in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai is a microcosm of the massive infrastructure overhaul underway in India as it seeks to outrun China. The airport, with a lotus-shaped design, should start operations in March next year with a capacity for 20 million passengers a year. That will ramp up to 90 million by 2032 if there’s enough demand. Navi Mumbai airport will be a perfect candidate to become an international transit hub on par with some of the world’s busiest like Dubai, London, Frankfurt and Singapore. A wave of plane deals and airport buildouts can aid that ambition. Air India, IndiGo and even the new Akasa have ordered more than 1,100 aircraft, combined. The world’s most populous nation is also ploughing $12 billion into building more than 72 new airports by 2025, as per a report.