Naresh Goyal, wife Anita Goyal to step down from Jet Airways board today

Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal will resign from the board of Jet Airways, 25 years after establishing the airline, a report said. Last week, the State Bank of India, which is leading the bank-led resolution plan for Jet, had asked them as well as two more directors to step down from their positions on the company's board. The decision could be formally announced later today.

The consortium of banks, led by SBI, may invoke the entire 51 per cent stake of Naresh Goyal in the airline, said a report by The Economic Times. Following this, the lenders will start looking for a new buyer in the coming weeks.

Former SBI managing director and ex-Jet Airways director Srinivasan Vishvanathan might be invited to join the top leadership of the company, the report added. Vishvanathan was on the Jet's board as an Independent Director for three years till August 2018. The lenders might even ask former SBI Chairman and ex CVC Commissioner Janaki Ballabh to take a seat at the Jet board, the daily further reported.

ALSO READ: SBI asks Naresh Goyal, his wife, two directors to step down from Jet Airways board as airline's financial woes deepen

Meanwhile, Etihad may remain on Jet's board for now, but its 24 per cent equity stake in the airline is expected to be diluted over the course of time. Afterwards one of the two Etihad nominees will exit the Jet board, the ET report said.

Goyal is presently in London and could address around 23,000 Jet employees upon his exit from there, the report said. In his absence, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube is expected to be at the helm of the beleaguered airlines.

With Goyal's exit, lenders of Jet Airways are likely to pick up a substantial stake in the debt-laden airline till a new promoter is roped in. The process of getting a new promoter on board is likely to take another two to three months. Once that is done, the banks are expected to offload their stakes.

The SBI-led consortium of lenders is working on a resolution plan for the cash-strapped Jet Airways for the last five months. The full service carrier has a debt burden of more than Rs 8,200 crore and needs to make repayments worth up to Rs 1,700 crore by March end.

ALSO READ: Jet Airways' lenders may acquire substantial stake in airline till new promoters come in: report

Edited by Vivek Punj