Rising Traffic Strains Current Capacity

It's the sort of problem everyone should have -- too many customers and not enough capacity. That's the case in India, where the government Wednesday announced an ambitious $1.1 billion plan to upgrade 30 airports throughout the country.

"Infrastructure has to be given a very big push," said Aviation Minister Praful Patel, quoted by Bloomberg News. "Our facilities are totally inadequate with the kind of growth that the industry is experiencing."

The $1.1 billion doesn't include money to expand and renovate India's two biggest airports -- Mumbai and New Delhi. Together, upgrades to those facilities will reportedly cost more than $2 billion.

As India loosens up regulations on private airlines, perhaps going so far as to allow some to fly overseas, airport terminals are "saturated or likely to be saturated very shortly," according to a statement from the ministry. Delays are becoming a major problem in several cities, according to the Airports Authority of India.

The improvements are all part of a general infrastructure upgrade expected to cost upwards of $150 billion over the next ten years, according to Bloomberg. That will include building as many as five new airports during the next decade.

FMI: www.airportsindia.org.in