With the revival plan of grounded Kingfisher Airlines getting nowhere, its
lead lender State Bank today said the creditors will meet in a fortnight to
decide the future course of action to secure their money even as the airline
chairman Vijay Mallya met employees to reassure them of the plan.
"Bankers are going to meet within 15 days. Consensus (on liquidation or whatever
action that bankers take) can emerge only when the company comes up with a
credible plan," said Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman of State Bank of India having an
exposure of Rs 1,600 crore not serviced since last January, to the troubled
company.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function attended by Finance
Minister P Chidambaram where he launched an infra debt fund from being run by
IL&FS here this evening.
Earlier in the day, Mallya met a group of pilots and engineers amidst their
threat to file a winding up petition and is understood to have told them that he
was trying to get bankers and the regulator DGCA on board to restart the
carrier.
However, Mallya did not give them any commitment on the payment of salary dues
pending since May last, saying he is trying hard to get the airline off the
ground.
This was Mallya's first meeting with his employees since the grounding of the
carrier. So far, the employees' unrest and issues were being handled by CEO
Sanjay Aggarwal.
According to sources, Mallya said he was making efforts to obtain no-objection
certificates from DGCA and the 17 bankers.
He is also understood to have also expressed hopes of a possible restart of the
airline within this quarter.
"They (KFA) made a presentation last time but we did not find that adequate,"
Chaudhuri said.
The SBI chief's comment comes on the heels of reports that the airline has
started vacating its domestic terminal at the Mumbai airport.
Earlier this week, despite not in operations, the company, which never reported
profit since inception in May 2005, had reported a loss of Rs 755 crore, which
its auditors contested.
Vijay Mallya-promoted airline is neck deep in debts with unserviced bank loans
running into over Rs 7,000 crore and accumulated losses and unpaid vendor
charges running nearly into Rs 10,000 crore.
Grounded since October 1 last, the airline lost its flying licence on December
31. The airline chairman had said he would started a limited scale operations by
the summer but has not been able to convince the lenders and the regulators
about financial side of the plan.
Emerging story. Watch this space for updates as more details come in
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