‘Only 1 airport for 10 million people’

India’s airport expansion presents “substantial headroom for growth,” the Economic Survey 2026 says, as the government launches the third round of airport privatisation covering 11 airports.

India currently operates approximately 0.11 airports per million people, significantly lower than the U.S. (47.35) and China (0.39), it states. India has total 160 airports, and there are ambitions to add another 50 by 2030 and grow their total number to 350 by 2044.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has already sent a proposal on the privatisation of 11 airports to the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) for its in-principle clearance and detailed scrutiny. This comprises four packages of two airports each and one package of three airports, with every package pairing a major airport with an airport in a Tier-2 or Tier-3 city.

On the overall infrastructure push in the country, the Economic Survey notes that the Centre’s capital outlay has increased nearly 89% to ₹11.21 lakh crore to propel India’s growth engine as public expenditure on infrastructure has a high multiplier effect, estimated by studies to be around 2.5 to 3.5 times the GDP over the medium term.

The roads and highways sector is the primary driver of India’s infrastructure and is is transitioning from rapid network expansion to a sharper focus on logistics efficiency and service quality. Sustained capital investment, the expansion of high-speed corridors, multimodal integration under PM GatiShakti, and reforms in project delivery are strengthening capacity and reliability. “This infrastructure-led push is central for reducing logistics costs, easing congestion and improving connectivity,” according to the Economic Survey.

But it underlines that public sector funding alone cannot meet India’s growing infrastructure requirements.

“A multi-pronged financing approach is essential to attract the requisite investments from the private sector and long-term institutional investors. This strategy requires strengthening resource mobilisation across all levels through innovative measures, including viable user charges and empowering municipal bodies to float bonds for localised resource generation. It also involves accelerating private participation including through public-private partnerships (PPPs),” it states.