Govt aims for 350 airports by 2047

The government aims to have 350 airports by 2047. India currently operates 164 airports and aims to add approximately 200 more by 2047.

The challenge is not about constructing airports but about "how to bring in more aircraft to India, says Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, who inaugurated the renovated Terminal-2 at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Saturday. The renovated T2 terminal resumed operations on Sunday after being closed since April 2025 for extensive renovation.

Aviation Minister said that the upgrade of Delhi’s T2 terminal is key to a larger plan to establish India as an international aviation hub.

Acknowledging the sharp increase in traffic at India's largest airport, Naidu told NDTV Profit that the Delhi airport is targeting a 120 million capacity, and the T2 expansion is projected to increase capacity by approximately 15 million seats.

He further stated that a ‘thorough investigation’ is being done into the AI-171 crash, for which a timeline cannot be given.

Naidu said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is conducting the AI-171 crash investigation, adhering strictly to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) procedures.

He also mentioned that a major domestic technological achievement was made when the black box was decoded in India for the first time.

Reflecting on the past decade, the minister said, “We’ve built so many airports over the last 10 years that we’ve become experts. You give us land anywhere, and we will build a state-of-the-art airport.”

Delhi’s IGIA has joined the elite 100-million-plus club of global airports, with an annual passenger-handling capacity of 109 million. According to data from the Official Airline Guide and airport operators, only six airports worldwide belong to this group.