Mumbai and Delhi to get its third airport by 2040

By 2040, at least 31 cities in India will reportedly have two airports, while Mumbai and Delhi will have its third airport.

A report released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation at the Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai suggested that majority of the Indian airports are expected to be saturated in the coming 10-15 years. However, by 2040, leading cities like Mumbai and Delhi are most likely to get saturated even with their second airports. The report suggests, India’s commercial airline fleet is likely to grow from 622 in March 2018 to around 2,359 in March 2040.

By 2040, the country may reportedly have 190-200 operational airports and the incremental land requirement is expected to be 150,000 acre with an estimated capital investment of $40-50 billion. Also, the total capital expenditure for brownfield and greenfield capacity expansion in India until 2040 is expected to be $40-50 billion.

In order to support low traffic airports at their initial phases, the government may establish a NABH (Next Generation Airports for Bharat) Nirman Fund of around $2 billion. For this, land pooling may be reportedly used in order to keep land acquisition costs low and to provide landowners with high value developed plots in the vicinity of the airports.

The ministry has reportedly written to respective state governments, asking them to identify land for a new airport at least five years before the airport reaches its capacity.