New Delhi: Interim resolution professional in charge of Jet Airways (India) Ltd has received claims worth nearly Rs 249 bn from 16,643 financial, operational creditors, and employees, among others till July 4.
Of the total, claims worth nearly Rs 85 bn or 34%, entirely belonging to the financial creditors such as banks and financial institutes, were admitted, according to the list released by insolvency professional Ashish Chhawchharia for the beleaguered airline, which is currently facing insolvency proceedings.
Under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the insolvency professional assess and then admits claims from various parties to whom the airline failed to repay dues. This amount is a key input in firming up a resolution plan.
While claims worth Rs 13.8 bn have been rejected, those worth over Rs 150 bn are under verification.
Of the total admitted claims of financial creditors, over Rs 64 bn are of 13 domestic banks and financial institutions, Rs 16 bn of 12 foreign lenders, and remaining Rs 4.6 bn of eight aircraft lessors.
For aircraft lessors, the company is in the process of confirming if any of these are related parties under the provision of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
SBI has 19.43% voting share in the CoC, the decision-making body responsible for finalising the resolution plan.
Claims worth Rs 16.4 bn of SBI have been accepted, followed by YES Bank’s Rs 10.8 bn. The private sector lender has 12.81% share in the creditors committee.
The committee, mainly consisting of secured lenders, had held their first meeting with Chhawchharia on Tuesday after the airline got admitted for insolvency proceedings in June.
Lenders to Jet Airways are likely to invite expressions of interest from potential buyers on Saturday for the beleaguered airline under the insolvency process.
Among the key discussion points was the raising of debt as interim funding, estimated to be around $10 mln, which is required for the payment of fees of the insolvency professional and maintenance of aircraft.
On Jun 20, the National Company Law Tribunal admitted an insolvency petition against Jet Airways, and directed the resolution professional for the airline to try and finish the process within three months.
The tribunal had cited "national importance" of the airline while directing a faster resolution process than 180 days allowed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
In mid-April, the Naresh Goyal-promoted airline had to temporarily suspend all its flights, domestic and international, because of paucity of funds.
To revive the airline, banks led by consortium leader State Bank of India had earlier sought expressions of interest from both strategic and financial investors to acquire at least 31.2% and up to 75% stake in Jet Airways.
Four expression of interests were qualified but only one of them--Etihad Airways PJSC--submitted a conditional bid.
Abu Dhabi-based airline already owns 24% in the Indian carrier, which is saddled with debt of over 85 bln rupees. The airline owes 16 bln rupees to SBI.
The issue at Jet shares also gained prominence owing to the job losses of more than 16,000 employees. Today, shares of Jet Airways ended 5% lower at 44.90 rupees at the National Stock Exchange.
