GMR Airports to raise ₹6,500 crore for refinancing, expansion
GMR Airports Ltd, India's largest private airport operator by passenger volume and market share, is planning to raise ₹6,500 crore to strengthen its balance sheet and fund its expanding portfolio.
It plans to raise ₹5,000 crore through equity and other securities, including a qualified institutional placement (QIP), and the remaining ₹1,500 crore through non-convertible bonds (NCDs).
Its board will meet on 12 August to consider an enabling resolution for the proposed fundraising, it said in a regulatory filing on 7 August.
The plan comes after a year of large refinancing transactions by GMR and its subsidiaries, alongside continued investment in airport expansion.
GMR operates Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Goa’s Manohar International Airport.
Its Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport in Bhogapuram, Andhra Pradesh, was inaugurated earlier this month, while the company took over operations at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur, in June 2026 under a 30-year concession. It has announced A ₹300 crore investment plan for the Nagpur airport.
Debt burden
GMR Airports raised ₹5,900 crore through NCDs in the first half of fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) to refinance ₹5,000 crore of existing debt. The additional ₹900 crore represented the redemption premium, according to the company's investor presentation. It also raised ₹300 crore in working capital funding for its duty-free operations.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd raised ₹2,100 crore through a 15-year rupee-denominated bond in January 2026 to refinance dollar-denominated debt due for repayment in February.
GMR Airports also raised ₹1,500 crore through NCDs in FY25, primarily to acquire a 10% stake held by Fraport in Delhi International Airport Ltd and for equity investments in other projects. In FY24, it refinanced ₹5,000 crore of debt.
GMR Airports' consolidated net debt stood at about ₹34,000 crore at 31 March 2026, up ₹470 crore from the December quarter. Standalone GMR Airports’ net debt declined ₹940 crore during the March quarter, partly offset by a ₹420 crore increase in the Bhogapuram project debt.
“While the ₹5,900 crore NCD issue, raised in 2025, was explicitly used to refinance existing debt, the new resolution is broader and could provide capital for growth, investments or other corporate requirements,” said Amit Mittal, aviation expert and director, Aerointellect Aviation.
“These new efforts by GMR to raise funds show their confidence in the growth of Indian aviation,” he said.
GMR reported consolidated gross income of ₹15,200 crore in FY26 and handled 121.6 million passengers across its Indian and foreign airport portfolio, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa and Medan (Indonesia).
About the Author
Abhishek Law has spent 18 years in journalism, which in news industry terms means he has survived several newsroom restructurings, countless “urgent” press releases, and more cups of tea than he can reasonably count. Based in New Delhi, he covers aviation for Mint, a sector where aircraft, oil prices, geopolitics and airline CEOs regularly conspire to make his life interesting.<br><br>Most of his time gets occupied by translating airline jargon like ASKs, yields, load factors and fleet strategies into language that doesn’t require a pilot’s licence. His motto is simple: if readers need a glossary, he hasn’t done his job properly.<br><br>On most days, the quadragenarian is tracking airline strategies, policy changes and the occasional mid-air disruption that suddenly become a stock market story. When planes are behaving themselves (which is not very often nowadays), he strays into other corporate beats like steel, trying to figure out what’s really happening.<br><br>He loves to talk, especially ask—that one more question which people are uncomfortable with, and saving contacts in his phone as a "Source who may or may not pick up calls”. <br><br>But, on a serious note, the goal remains simple: cut through jargon, find that additional detail, and turn complicated business stories into something one can actually enjoy reading.
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