The Aditya Birla Group has taken its first formal step toward entering the aircraft-leasing business, with its newly incorporated GIFT City entity UHG Holdings IFSC Pvt Ltd seeking regulatory approval to undertake aircraft leasing activities. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, three Aditya Birla Group companies—Hindalco Industries, UltraTech Cement, and Grasim Industries—incorporated UHG Holdings on August 20, 2026, with Hindalco holding 50%, UltraTech Cement 41%, and Grasim Industries 9%. The company has been set up with an initial paid-up capital of ₹10 lakh and can fund operations through shareholder contributions as well as borrowings. This marks a significant milestone as the group enters aircraft leasing as a new business through a consortium of industrial companies, unlike the airline groups that have established leasing entities.
GIFT City's aircraft leasing ecosystem has demonstrated remarkable growth, with 37 aircraft leasing entities operating from the IFSC as of June 2026, maintaining a combined portfolio of 412 aviation assets, including 237 aircraft, 87 engines and 85 APUs. According to the latest data, financing extended by International Banking Units to aircraft-leasing entities stood at $664.77 million at the end of June 2026, compared with $234.6 million a year earlier. The growth trajectory is being bolstered by major corporate participation, with the Adani Group having set up aircraft-leasing vehicles in the IFSC, while Tata Group's Air India and IndiGo have established GIFT City entities to finance and lease aircraft. Akasa Air has also set up an IFSC leasing arm as it expands its fleet.
The expansion is being supported by international partnerships, with Alpaca cofounder and global chief executive Yoshi Yokokawa indicating that "a lot of our partners will go live in the coming days" through GIFT City. Alpaca's global assets under custody has been more than doubling year on year, while India AUC could expand "at least 10x" over the coming year, according to the company's projections. The growth momentum is further supported by major airlines' expansion plans, with Major Indian airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, Akasa Air and Star Air, having pledged to lease around 199 additional aircraft worth an estimated USD 12-16 billion through their respective leasing entities in Gujarat's GIFT City, a move that will almost triple the number of commercial aircraft currently leased through the international financial services centre.
The regulatory framework introduced in 2021 now allows special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to own aircraft and sit between lenders and airlines, reducing banks' direct exposure to airline balance sheets. As reported by Mint, this structure addresses previous banking hesitancy due to aircraft financing risks and specialized nature of the business. The broader plan includes developing financing structures that give banks greater comfort in lending against aircraft assets, with the current market showing significant banking participation in GIFT City's aviation financing ecosystem.
Indian airlines currently maintain an order book of around 2,000-plus aircraft that are fully leased, but historically, most aircraft leasing and financing has occurred through overseas centres. According to the latest data, 80% of India's commercial fleet is financed and leased through entities in Ireland, Cayman Islands, Singapore, or Tianjin. Ireland alone controls 29% of the global market for aircraft leasing, as reported in a September 2025 PwC report. The timing of Aditya Birla Group's entry comes as GIFT City's aircraft leasing business emerges as a significant component within the financial ecosystem, with the centre positioning itself as a competitive global financial hub by focusing on specialized financial segments including aircraft and ship leasing.
