Lenders to Jet Airways said on Thursday that they intend to pursue a plan for a stake sale in the airline, but will look for other options if the efforts do not result in an ‘acceptable outcome’.
In a statement issued after a meeting today, the lenders said that they “intend to pursue the bank-led resolution plan for the sale of a stake in the company in a time-bound manner under the present legal and regulatory framework and intend to invite expressions of interest (EoI)”.
The EoIs will be invited on April 6, and will need to be submitted by April 9, the statement said, adding that “the lenders will consider other options if the stake sale plans do not yield good results.
Earlier in the day, senior SBI officials said the lenders saw no impact on Jet’s shareholding pattern after the Supreme Court’s recent order.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had set aside the RBI’s February 12, 2018 circular on a revised framework for the resolution of stressed assets.
This could stall the Jet board’s plan, wherein lenders led by SBI will take over the airline’s debt and convert it into 11.4 crore shares for just ₹1.
‘Keeping close watch’
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Secretary PS Kharola said in New Delhi on Thursday that the Ministry is “keeping a close watch on Jet Airways”.
He added that the airline, which is currently operating 26 planes, is still in a position to meet its commitment to the government — that it will have a fleet of 75 aircraft flying by the end of this month.
Kharola said the Ministry has not yet started examining whether Jet runs the risk of violating the 0/20 rule, which stipulates that a domestic airline must have a fleet of over 20 aircraft to fly on international routes.
Refuelling stopped?
Meanwhile, late on Thursday evening, oil companies declined to refuel Jet aircraft for about an hour at Delhi airport.
While Jet said this was not true, sources confirmed that refuelling had stopped for some time but was resumed later.