Kalrock-Jalan Consortium To Invest Rs 1,375 Crore In Debt-laden Jet Airways

Kalrock-Jalan consortium will invest around Rs 1,375 crore in Jet Airways over two years.

The consortium which won the bid to revive the grounded airline last October plans to start with domestic services using 5-7 new aircraft and will fund the investment through mix of equity and debt, it informed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) today.

While most of its fleet was repossessed, Jet Airways still has twelve aircraft including Airbus A330, Boeing 737 and Boeing 777 planes. However, the consortium does not plan to use the existing fleet and aims to relaunch the operations with new aircraft.

The tribunal began hearing on the resolution plan from Tuesday. In the first hearing, Kalrock-Jalan consortium disclosed it would pay Rs 1,183 crore to lenders over the next five years. Today, it prayed for airport slots while seeking approval to the resolution plan.

Counsels of Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA sought time till next Tuesday to make written submission on the issue of slots and traffic rights. The matter will be again heard next Wednesday.

The tribunal is also hearing an application of Sahara Group which is challenging the resolution plan. Sahara Group sold Air Sahara to Jet Airways in 2007 and two sides are locked in a bitter legal battle over the purchase consideration. The litigation is still pending in the Supreme Court.

The Group has said that its Rs 1,600 crore claim against Jet was secured by a non-disposal undertaking given by Jet over a 750,000 square feet property in Bandra Kurla complex area of Mumbai.

The Group today requested the tribunal to exclude this property from the assets in the resolution plan and sought direction to resolution professional to treat it as a secured creditor.

Ashish Chhawchharia, the resolution professional, has opposed Group's plea arguing that it is not a secured creditor under the provisions of the insolvency and bankruptcy code. "

The resolution professional has filed its reply challenging the Sahara group application, " a person aware of the matter said.

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