Kingfisher lenders plan to sell R6,500-cr USL shares

However, bankers feel recovery may be a long-drawn process. Among the 17 banks in the lenders' consortium, the core group including SBI, Bank of India (BoI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and IDBI Bank met on Wednesday to decide the course of recovery but could not reach a conclusion.

SBI has the highest exposure of around R1,600 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank with R800 crore, IDBI Bank R800 crore, Bank of India R650 crore and Bank of Baroda at R550 crore.

According to an official at a public sector bank, lenders do not need any approvals to sell the shares pledged to them and can do that immediately, if they feel so.

“Once the banks send out a recall notice to a borrower, they can either file appeals in the court or in debt recovery tribunals or come to the banks with a settlement proposal. If the company takes the legal route it is possible that the recovery may take a significant amount of time,” the banker said.

On Tuesday, representatives from the consortium of lenders had met with the airline management and had come to the conclusion that they will not be giving KFA any more time.