The Taj brand will open at three airports in India, part of an eight-hotel deal

India’s IHCL, owner of the Taj brand, and Adani Airport Holdings announced on 29 October 2026 a deal for eight hotels in four airport cities: Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Guwahati. Three of these addresses will carry the Taj name, including one at Terminal 2 of Mumbai airport, already under construction. Neither opening dates nor room counts for each hotel have been released.

☰Contents

1. Eight hotels, four airports, 2,000 rooms
2. Mumbai and Ahmedabad, already under way
3. Lucknow and Guwahati, five more hotels
4. Taj, Vivanta, Gateway, Ginger: which brands?
5. IHCL reaches 25 airport hotels in India
6. Why Adani is building ‘airport cities’

Eight hotels, four airports, 2,000 rooms

The division of roles is simple: Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL) develops and builds the hotels, and IHCL (The Indian Hotels Company Limited) runs them under its brands. Together they add up to more than 2,000 rooms across eight properties. No images of the future hotels have been released: the pictures in this article show two airport Taj hotels that are already open, the Taj Bangalore and the Taj Santacruz in Mumbai, both run by the group today.

Mumbai and Ahmedabad, already under way

In Mumbai, a Taj is under construction at Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The brand is back in its home city: Mumbai is where the Taj Mahal Palace stands, facing the Arabian Sea.

In Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport will be home to a Taj and a Vivanta, whose construction is already at an advanced stage, according to IHCL’s announcement.

Lucknow and Guwahati, five more hotels

Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, will get a Vivanta and a Ginger at its airport. Guwahati, the main city of Assam and gateway to the country’s north-east, will have three: a Taj, a Gateway and a Ginger. Here too, neither the timetable nor the size of each hotel has been specified.

Taj, Vivanta, Gateway, Ginger: which brands?

All four names belong to IHCL. Taj is the group’s most upmarket brand, the one behind its palaces and grand hotels; Vivanta and Gateway target a broader business and leisure clientele, and Ginger is its budget brand. The deal therefore mixes luxury and the quick stopover within the same airport districts.

IHCL reaches 25 airport hotels in India

With these eight addresses, IHCL will have 25 hotels at India’s main airports. For its part, AAHL now counts 15 partner hotels across its network. In May 2026, the airport operator had already signed five hotels with IHG, nearly 1,500 rooms, in Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and the Mumbai region, including India’s first Kimpton, in Jaipur.

Jeet Adani, director of AAHL, believes that major airports are becoming destinations in their own right, driving trade, tourism and urban growth, and sees the partnership as an important milestone. Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and CEO of IHCL, points out that India is among the fastest-growing aviation markets and that airport districts are turning into business and hospitality hubs.

Why Adani is building ‘airport cities’

These hotels are part of a wider programme, Adani Airport City, unveiled in June 2026. Its subsidiary Adani Airport City Limited is developing more than 655 acres, around 265 hectares, around six airports in five states, including nearly 440 acres in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

The first phase represents more than 20,000 crore rupees, or over 200 billion rupees, for some 22 million square feet (nearly 2 million m²) of offices, shops and hotels in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur and Guwahati. That figure covers the whole programme: no budget has been given for the eight hotels alone. For other projects in the country, see the Mementos by ITC Hotels Karjat resort, between Mumbai and Pune, and The Den Bengaluru, Hilton’s first LXR in India.