BENGALURU: A Bengaluru native and CEO of a Saudia Arabia-based construction firm, Gold Tower Group, on Thursday claimed to be able to get Jet Airways up and running within just ten days through Gulf-based NRIs if the shares held by former Chairman Naresh Goyal were sold to the group.
At a briefing for the media, Mohammed Nagaman Lateef claimed that three individuals, two of them Indians who have now become Saudi Arabian citizens and an Indian tycoon, were willing to keep Jet Airways afloat.
"They are willing to invest anywhere between Rs 8,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore, provided that 24% of Jet’s shares held by Goyal are sold to them," Lateef said.
Lateef said he was in town to set up his own celebrity firm, International Iconic Federation. His tweet sent on April 19 to the Jet Airways official handle read: “Hai Jet Airways, whomsoever it may concern. I wanna speak to the CEO and Mr Naresh Goyal regarding the emergency funding if possible send me contact details.” He also claimed that he contacted SBI officials and expressed his keenness to fund the airways. But when he was asked who he contacted, he spoke of an official familiar to him at the Murudeshwara branch of SBI.
“The official told me that only those with an aviation background are permitted to invest in the company,” he claimed.
Asked about the turnover of his present firm Gold Tower Group, Lateef said it was not right on his part to share it. A press release shared on the occasion said, “I request Naresh Goyal and the CEO Vinay Dubey to have a board meeting with all employees and me so that we can speak to the Gulf gountries Qatar and Dubai to invest in India’s leading airlines. We can make sure once again to make it fly high in next 240 hours.”A Jet Airways spokesperson was not available for a response.