India is planning a national overhaul of its aviation backbone, rolling out its most aggressive expansion yet with up to $40 billion planned through 2040. Airbus expects the commercial fleet to triple to 2,250 aircraft by 2035, even as the airport network expands from 149 to 200 parallel maintenance operations. (MRO), hangars, vertiports, air traffic control modernization and clean energy aviation assets.
The airport acquisition pipeline estimated at $18 billion to $24 billion over the next four years will shift from mega-hubs to a broader network of small and mid-sized airports, opening up global opportunities. Planned upgrades include terminal expansions, longer runways, larger aprons, new tech blocks and expanded assets in the city. The greenfield sites include Parandur, Puri, Dholera, Kota, Alwar, Mandi, Raichur, Doloo, Kottayam, Sonepur and Saharsa.
Business aviation growth is driving more than 30 new terminals this decade, a $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion build, while $4-5 billion in cargo infrastructure is expected at 20-25 airports.
“India’s aviation infrastructure drive has become much more predictable and investable, with liberalized foreign direct investment rules, stronger regulators, clearer concession frameworks and wider use of arbitration enhancing contractual security,” says Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner, KS Legal & Associates.
Engineering depth
The Managing Director and CEO of Tata Projects Ltd. (TPL), Vinayak Pai, says the company is moving into deeper roles in airports, MRO complexes, renewable energy bases and cargo and logistics infrastructure.
TPL’s partnership with Yamuna International Airport and Zurich International Airport for the second Delhi International Airport at Jewar is “one of our most emblematic programs.” The The scope includes a terminal, a 4km runway, airside and groundside systems, utilities, cargo terminal, an air traffic control tower and support facilities with a workforce of over 100,000, it adds.
“A track looks simple but is extremely complex,” he notes. “You move layer by layer, integrate electrical conduits, design drainage and protect the entire system.”
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Renewable energy systems, rainwater collection and sustainable materials have been integrated. Connectivity is anchored by the Yamuna Expressway, with future multimodal links planned. Designed for long-term expansion, the airport will scale to 70 million passengers annually, two runways, expanded terminal capacity and aircraft maintenance infrastructure.
“With 200 clear meters, minimal columns and dense mechanical engineering plumbing, terminals and railway stations are now conceived as experiential spaces,” says Pai. At Jewar, the geometric complexity forced measured-in-place fabrication of straps and roof members, Pai says, a challenge to deliver this complexity on a 2.5-year schedule.
New generation construction increase
While BIM models, 3D camera-based monitoring, drone mapping, robotics and SAP-based ERP platforms are now standard, digital twins are still a work in progress, says Pai, noting that a true digital twin requires item-level cataloging, embedded sensors and predictive maintenance logic.
International interest in India’s MRO market is accelerating. TPL is partnering with Singapore-based ASI Global, which with its design center in Sydney is known for designing aircraft hangars, modular steel structures and turnkey MRO facilities. Valued at roughly $245 million each, “India will need two to three new MROs every year for the next four years. We project a roughly 40 percent share,” says Pai.
Meanwhile, SP-PLUS AG is supporting a first-tranche investment of $250 million to build a new MRO center in Bhopal, the opening move of a broader $5 billion Indo-Swiss aviation program spanning MRO, airports, training, defense technology and aviation finance, with Fly Bharathi Group.
India needs 300-350 new hangars ($2.6-3.3 billion), while 160-200 legacy hangars require upgrades, and airfields and defense ships require 100-120 new units. “[European safety standard]- Air-conditioned hangars with doors that comply with regulations are mandatory abroad. India will have to follow the regulations as it seeks to service European-registered and leased aircraft,” says Pratik Gandhi, senior director at Mumbai-based Gandhi Automations.
The question today is no longer whether eVTOLs will fly in India, but how quickly the ecosystem can align to make them viable.
“Advanced air mobility will be defined by ecosystem collaboration, not stand-alone innovation,” says Clem Newton-Brown, CEO and founder of Australia’s Skyportz. In partnership with Vertiports India, the company plans to model 10,000 to 15,000 sites by 2045 to support a projected fleet of 2,500 to 3,500 eVTOLs.. The company recently launched Aeroberm, a modular fractal vertipad that reduces the risk of washout, noise and fire, enabling safer and smaller footprint operations in congested urban cores.
India’s Sustainable Jet Fuel Transition
The evolution of India’s SAF is crystallizing into a $2 to $3 billion, decade-long hiring cycle enough ATJ plants, HEFA refineries using LanzaJet, UOP Honeywell and Neste technologies, Jet biomass pilots, certification laboratories, airport infrastructure and carbon market systems. GPS Renewables has secured NTPC’s EPC mandate for India’s first ATJ ethanol jet plant of 1,800 TPA in the Pudimadaka Green Hydrogen Hub, target for March 2029.
SAF tenders will be submitted in the next two years. Jet liquor deals in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka will be followed by packs for dehydration, oligomerization and hydrogen supply units once the license agreements with LanzaJet, Gevo and Axens close. Under India’s SAF framework dated April 24, 2026, public sector oil companies must commission at least one Hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) for 2028, triggering 2027 bids covering Honeywell/Neste’s methanol-to-jet licenses, used cooking oil logistics and refinery integration.
India’s first commercial HEFA unit has been commissioned by the Government of India under the SAF regulatory framework dated April 24, 2026, which mandates public sector oil marketing companies to commission at least one HEFA route plant by 2028.
In parallel, TPL has been named a partner in SAF One Energy Management’s Middle East HEFA project with UOP Honeywell, a move that underpins a “design once, build many“ global rollout including a facility in India, giving Tata a modular and scalable execution role through pretreatment, hydroprocessing and build-based integration.
Tenders at the airport for SAF combination terminals, segregated tanks, pipeline upgrades and digital reservation and reclamation systems are expected in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad next year once upstream volumes are confirmed, forming India’s first coordinated SAF procurement cycle with global licensees supplying the chemistry and Indian builders delivering the facilities.
