India's First Brownfield Airport: A Case of Delhi International Airport

The stupendous growth in the civil aviation sector has made it
inevitable for India to develop state of the art airports. It has become the need of
the hour to develop world class airports in shortest possible time and with the
available resources. Public finances alone are insufficient to fund the infrastructure
needed to support the tremendous growth in passenger and cargo movements
across the nation. There is a need to adopt innovative ways and lure the private
players to participate in the growth process through Public Private Partnership
(PPP) model. Thus, this study is undertaken to understand the working of PPP
model in the aviation sector through the experience of Delhi International Airport
Limited (DIAL). DIAL is one among the first airports to be privatized under the
Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in India. This study uses descriptive case
research method to analyze and highlight the journey of DIAL to be a world class
airport catering close to 35% of the total passenger movements in India, and one
among the top 30 busiest airports in the world. Further, it discusses the key
struggles of DIAL and the lessons learnt from the DIAL experience.