“The airport recorded a loss of ₹148.3 crore in FY2022-23. In FY2023-24, losses ballooned to ₹363.3 crore. FY2024-25 added another ₹266 crore to the bleeding. Even more worrying is the continued deterioration in FY2025-26, where losses have reportedly already crossed ₹331 crore, including ₹63.3 crore in the last quarter alone.
These are not temporary fluctuations. They reflect a deeper structural problem.
Airports are expensive ventures, and every aviation expert knows that greenfield projects take years to break even.”
Goa was promised a gateway to the future. What it may have received instead is a financial black hole.
The latest financial disclosures from GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL) reveal that the Manohar International Airport at Mopa has accumulated losses nearing ₹777 crore since operations began. The numbers are staggering, but perhaps not surprising.
For years, critics warned that Goa, a small state with a limited population and seasonal tourism economy, may not be able to sustain two full scale airports. Those warnings were dismissed in the name of “development”, “growth”, and “future capacity”. Today, the balance sheets are beginning to tell a different story.
The airport recorded a loss of ₹148.3 crore in FY2022-23. In FY2023-24, losses ballooned to ₹363.3 crore. FY2024-25 added another ₹266 crore to the bleeding. Even more worrying is the continued deterioration in FY2025-26, where losses have reportedly already crossed ₹331 crore, including ₹63.3 crore in the last quarter alone.
These are not temporary fluctuations. They reflect a deeper structural problem.
Airports are expensive ventures, and every aviation expert knows that greenfield projects take years to break even. But Mopa was never sold to the people of Goa as a long term gamble. It was projected as an economic revolution that would transform North Goa, create jobs, boost tourism, attract global investment, and place Goa on the international aviation map.
Instead, what Goa is witnessing is an airport struggling to justify its own economics.
Passenger numbers may be rising. Flights may be increasing. International connectivity may be improving. But the central question remains unanswered: can the airport sustain itself financially without becoming dependent on endless concessions, subsidies, and policy support?
That question becomes even more uncomfortable because Dabolim airport continues to operate. Goa now has two airports competing for the same passenger base in a state whose tourism sector itself faces saturation, environmental stress, and infrastructure fatigue.
The issue is no longer merely aviation. It is public accountability.
How much public support has gone into enabling this project? What revenue projections were originally presented? Were those projections realistic or politically convenient? How long before taxpayers indirectly shoulder the burden of sustaining a private infrastructure project that continues to report mounting losses?
There is also the larger concern of Goa’s development model. Mega projects are repeatedly marketed as symbols of progress, while the long term economic risks are rarely discussed openly. Once the ribbon cutting ceremonies end and the headlines fade, the financial consequences remain.
Supporters of Mopa argue that patience is needed. They point out that airport ecosystems generate revenue over time through hotels, cargo, retail, logistics, real estate, and commercial activity. That may well happen. Aviation infrastructure is indeed a long game.
But Goa cannot afford blind optimism.
The state deserves transparency, honest projections, and periodic public scrutiny of projects executed in the name of development. Growth cannot simply be measured by concrete poured, terminals inaugurated, or flights announced. It must also be measured by financial sustainability and public benefit.
Mopa may yet succeed in the future. But the current numbers are a warning sign that Goa cannot ignore.
The nightmare is not merely the losses themselves. The real nightmare is the possibility that the warnings were right all along.
