Navi Mumbai airport to have an exclusive FedEx cargo hub by 2028

MUMBAI: Two months after passenger Terminal 1 was commissioned at the Navi Mumbai International Airport, a ground breaking ceremony for an exclusive, fully automated air cargo hub marked the next phase of development at the greenfield airport. The cargo hub is expected to be completed in two years time.


The proposed facility, to be developed as a dedicated cargo hub for FedEx, will come up within the airport premises under a long-term investment plan exceeding Rs 2,500 crore. Spread across 300,000 square feet, the hub is designed as a regional consolidation and redistribution centre that will connect India with Southeast Asia, West Asia, Europe and the United States.





The ceremony was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Jeet Adani, Director, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), Raj Subramanian, President and CEO, FedEx Corporation, Richard Smith, CEO, Airline and COO, International, FedEx, and Kami Viswanathan, President, FedEx Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa (MEISA).


In his address, Fadnavis said the cargo hub would complement the passenger operations at the airport and reinforce Maharashtra’s position as a logistics and trade gateway. He referred to the airport’s proximity to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, industrial corridors and multimodal transport links, and said the development would generate employment while strengthening export competitiveness.


Jeet Adani said the project reflected NMIA’s long-term vision of building integrated infrastructure that strengthens India’s trade competitiveness. “With its proximity to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, industrial corridors and multimodal transport networks, NMIA is uniquely positioned to support high-growth export sectors and enhance Maharashtra's role as a global logistics gateway,” he said.


The cargo hub will leverage the airport’s multimodal connectivity to strengthen Western India’s international trade corridor. Once operational, it is expected to create more than 6,000 direct and indirect jobs across logistics, warehousing, transportation and allied services.


Raj Subramanian said the facility would integrate the company’s global network with India’s fastest-growing trade corridor. “Establishing this hub at NMIA allows us to integrate global network strength with India’s fastest-growing trade corridor, providing greater certainty, speed and efficiency to our customers,” he said.


According to the company, the hub will be equipped with advanced automated sorting systems, dimensional scanning, high-speed screening technology and dedicated aircraft parking bays. It will enable simultaneous processing of inbound and outbound shipments and is expected to enhance routing flexibility and transit time predictability, particularly for high-value and time-sensitive sectors such as electronics, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals and perishables.


Kami Viswanathan said India’s competitiveness in global trade would increasingly depend on the reliability and speed of its logistics infrastructure. She said the development would support trade flows across Southeast Asia, West Asia, Europe and the United States, embedding global network connectivity within India’s primary trade corridor.


NMIA’s cargo infrastructure is planned to begin with an initial handling capacity of approximately 0.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) annually, scaling up in phases to around 3.2 MMT in its final development stage. The calibrated expansion aligns with the airport’s strategy of positioning the Mumbai Metropolitan Region as a major air freight and logistics gateway.


Building on nearly three decades of operations in India, the new hub expands FedEx’s dedicated presence in the country while reinforcing NMIA’s role as an integrated aviation and multimodal trade platform in global supply chains.