Top Corporates Cross Swords With Adani Over Eviction of Jets From Mumbai Airport

New Delhi: A slew of India’s top corporate groups, including Essar, Aditya Birla, JSW Steel and the Taj Group, are locked in a standoff with the Adani Group over an eviction order targeting their business jets at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).

The Adani-operated airport has sent termination notices to top firms on March 30 to vacate hangars and parking bays by July 31, 2025 to make way for new infrastructure, including a parallel taxiway, The Hindu reported.

The newspaper said that the firms, along with private charter operators, have raised concerns over the short notice and the financial implications of the move.

“Industry insiders claim the move is a strong-arm tactic to force them to relocate to the soon-to-open Navi Mumbai airport, also under Adani’s control,” it reported.

At the same time, Navi Mumbai airport authorities announced a Rs 20 crore parking stand fee, along with an annual usage charge.

According to The Hindu, some charter operators have described these levies as “illegal”, arguing that only the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is authorised to determine such tariffs.

The change has also alarmed charter plane service providers, who say clients strongly prefer the CSMIA for its proximity to the city’s business districts.

With flights having to drop clients at the CSMIA and then flying to Navi Mumbai for parking, operators estimate that costs would rise by 30% due to increased fuel use and the complexity of coordinating flights between two airports.

A spokesperson for Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) told The Hindu that the eviction was part of a long-planned infrastructure upgrade, including runway expansion and taxiway development.

AAHL, which handles about a quarter of India’s passenger traffic, said parking charges at Navi Mumbai would be set through open bidding, in line with market demand and usage patterns.

Meanwhile, the Business Aircraft Operators’ Association asserted that they were not ‘squatting’ on parking space, but paying the prescribed rental.

In a letter to AERA, the association urged the regulator to expand parking capacity at CSMIA rather than displace existing users, calling such space “a critical requirement”.

It also argued that business jet operators should not be saddled with relocation costs and pressed the government to ensure that any alternative arrangement does not impose an additional financial burden.

The association added that the eviction ran counter to basic principles of infrastructure management.

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