Union Government has extended GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited’s (GHIAL) term of the concession agreement for a further 30 years. The Group can now run the airport till 2068. The new agreement term will be in force from March 23, 2038, to March 22, 2068, according to a regulatory filing of the GMR Group.

The Hyderabad Airport is India’s first greenfield airport built under a public-private partnership model. The airport started with an initial capacity of 1.2 Crore passengers per annum and went up to 2.1 Crore in 2019 but the pandemic played a spoilsport. The airport is currently undergoing a major expansion that will raise its capacity to 3.4 crore passengers per annum. 

The airport’s master plan envisages an ultimate capacity of over 10 crore passengers per annum and GMR Group will use this extension to reach that capacity. The airport is also the largest private airport operator in Asia and the second largest in the world with a passenger handling capacity of over 18.9 crores annually.