The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the resolution plan provided by the Kalrock-Jalan consortium for Jet Airways. The two-member bench approached the plan with riders.
The tribunal gave Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Aviation Ministry 90 days to allot the slots. However, the Aviation Ministry had argued that the airline cannot bank on historicity to claim the slots.
The bid by Kalrock Capital and Murari Lal Jalan was approved by the Committee of Creditors in October last year. The approval came after several rounds of bidding. However, both the parties do not have any prior experience of running an airline.
The two-member bench of Janab Mohammed Ajmal and V Nallasenapathy had earlier reserved the order after hearing all the parties.
Kalrock is a UK-based asset management company and Murari Lal Jalan is an UAE-based entrepreneur.
Kalrock-Jalan consortium has stated it will study the written order once it is issued by the NCLT and provide a detailed response on the next steps to its stakeholders. "The consortium awaits the written order by the National Company Law Tribunal approving the Resolution Plan and shall inform all stakeholders on next steps for the revival of their beloved airline - Jet Airways," noted Kalrock-Jalan consortium in a press release. "Our team will study the written order once issued by the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal and we will provide a detailed response on the next steps subsequently," added the firm.
The bidders have proposed a total cash flow of Rs 1,375 crore for the revival of the airline. They aim to restart operations with 30 aircraft within six months from the approval of the plan by NCLT.
The airline founded by Naresh Goyal over 25 years ago stopped flying on April 17, 2019 as it faced a cash crunch and struggled to keep itself afloat. It was admitted for the resolution process in June 2019 by a SBI-led consortium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The carrier owes more than Rs 8,000 crore to banks, with public sector lenders having significant exposure.
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