Delhi-based GMR group group has been the king of India’s airport infrastructure business, handling over 100 million passengers a year in India and abroad. Its two operational airports in India — Delhi and Hyderabad — handled nearly a fourth of the 340 million Indian airline passenger market in FY20.

So last month, listening to a long-standing demand by its investors, GMR Infrastructure demerged its non-airport business (energy and highways) from the airport business, transforming the company into India’s only listed pure play airport company. The timing is …