State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri has said that there is no question of committing fresh loans for the ailing Kingfisher Airlines.

Asked to comment on the latest revival plan proposed by the airline, Chaudhuri said the window available for any revival may have just closed on it.

MORE DIFFICULT

“Each passing day makes it more difficult to implement any such plan,” he said, after attending a conference of the bank’s Deputy General Managers here on Thursday.

Any credible revival plan for Kingfisher would call for sinking of at least $500-700 million, which translates into Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore.

Promoters must think of fresh equity infusion to sustain any plan to take the airline off the ground, Chaudhuri said.

But he said he had not seen details of latest revival plan yet.

Cash Reserve Ratio

Separately, he said that SBI would be more than willing to pass on the benefits in the event of a cut in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and the policy (repo) rate.

“Yes, this is a promise from the bank if the RBI could cut the CRR by another 50 to 100 basis points and the repo rate by 50 basis points in the next policy review,” he said.

He gave no signs of relenting in his fight against the imposition of CRR and suggested that banks were being unfairly targeted in this manner.

Other players, such as insurance companies, mutual funds and non-banking finance companies may also be asked to cough up their shares to create a level-playing field.

CRR Campaign

The campaign against CRR had not exactly gone in vain, Chaudhuri said, citing how it has been brought down from 6 per cent to 4.25 currently.

The SBI lending rate setting policy too has largely been in sync with this decline, resulting in the revision of the base rate from 11 per cent to 9.75 per cent.

vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in

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