New Delhi: The US is opposing the Adani Group’s attempt to shift cargo carriers to its new airport outside Mumbai, people familiar with the matter said, in a dispute that underscores concerns about the conglomerate’s growing control over India’s aviation infrastructure.
The US Department of Transportation wrote to India’s aviation ministry in March, arguing that Adani Airport Holdings Ltd.’s push to relocate freighters — including FedEx Corp. — violates the bilateral Air Transport Agreement, the people said, asking not to be identified citing rules. The DOT warned that forcing American carriers to do so could prompt it to consider adverse measures under the treaty.
The communication follows Adani’s directive to freight operators to shift to the new Navi Mumbai International Airport between August 2026 and May 2027, citing refurbishment works at the current airport.
The refurbishment, “including operationalization of Taxiway-E and rapid exit taxiways, will temporarily impact nearly 25% of cargo handling capacity,” a spokesperson for Adani Airport, a unit of Adani Enterprises Ltd., said in a statement. To manage this, the operator of the Mumbai airport “proposed a phased and limited realignment of select international freighter operations to Navi Mumbai.”
While shares of Adani Enterprises closed about 2% higher on Monday, the stock is down nearly 5% so far this year.
Disproportionate Influence
But with Adani controlling both Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and the new Navi Mumbai facility, the move also reflects the group’s disproportionate influence over how traffic is allocated across India’s financial capital.
US officials view the relocation push as effectively serving to populate the new airport — which began commercial operations in December — rather than being a neutral operational decision, the people said.
The Adani Group is the country’s largest airports operator in the private sector, with a portfolio of eight airports across seven Indian cities and plans to invest $11 billion to bid for a dozen more terminals by 2030.
FedEx is currently the only American cargo airline operating out of Mumbai’s main airport, according to the terminal’s website. Moving away from the centrally located airport could affect carriers’ access to prime operating slots — rights that are protected for an American carrier under the bilateral air services pact that the DOT invoked in its letter.
These concerns prompted the American carrier to approach the DOT, which then escalated the matter with Indian authorities.
The issue has the potential to snowball into a diplomatic problem, the people said, adding that the Indian government has written to Adani seeking an amicable solution.
The department is working to ensure US carriers’ rights under the US-India Air Transport Agreement, the DOT said in a statement, without giving more details. India’s aviation ministry and Fedex did not respond to emailed queries.
The standoff comes at an awkward moment for billionaire Gautam Adani, who is already facing a US Department of Justice probe. It also risks injecting fresh tension into US-India ties just months after the two sides concluded a hard-fought trade deal.