CHENNAI: The bidding process to find a buyer for the beleaguered Jet Airways, which was to kick start from April 6, will likely commence from April 8 now.
The major reason that led to the postponement is believed to be the lack of clarity on the impact of the Supreme Court order quashing the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) February 12, 2018, circular. People aware of the developments said that post the verdict, lenders and bidders had to make significant changes in the bidding documents, which delayed the process.
The SBI-led consortium of lenders, which now holds a majority stake in Jet, said last Thursday that Expression of Interests (EoI) for sale of stakes in the airline will be issued on April 6 and the last date for the submission of bids would be on April 9. It is now believed that the last date will also to be extended by a day to April 10.
Meanwhile, names of domestic and foreign entities, such as investment firms TPG and government-anchored National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, Tata Vistara, Delta Airlines, Etihad Airways and IndiGo Partners are doing the rounds as potential bidders for Jet.
The lenders’ consortium has, however, maintained that it would stick to the June 30 deadline for resolution and would initiate bankruptcy proceedings if it fails to attract an investor by that date.
A finance ministry official said that lenders are keeping a close watch to maintain the current fleet size as further grounding might seriously jolt Jet’s operations. It is expected that the banks would release the first tranche of the promised Rs 1,500 crore interim fund in the next few days, to avoid oil marketing companies stopping supply of fuel or pilots going on strike from April 15 over non-payment of pending salaries.
On Friday, Indian Oil Corp had stopped the supply of fuel to the airline for some hours over non-payment of dues.
Under the debt resolution plan approved by the Jet’s board on March 25, lenders have taken a majority stake in the airline, committing to pump in Rs 1,500 crore. Jet’s founder Naresh Goyal and wife Anita had also quit the board. But the banks are yet to reach a consensus on funds.
Devoid of liquidity, the situation at Jet has worsened in the last few weeks with the carrier now left with only 26 planes out of 120. The fleet size is expected to shrink further and aircraft lessors who have approached Director General of Civil Aviation to de-register their planes might take their grounded planes out of the country.