Naresh Goyal-founded Jet Airways could be inching towards the resolution process as two new suitors have been shortlisted to bid for the now-defunct airline. While the Resolution Professional got three EoIs on the 31 August deadline, two have been shortlisted from them — South-America based Synergy group and Russian Fund Treasury RA Creator, CNBC TV-18 cited unidentified sources as saying. Now, Synergy Group and RA Creator will be invited to submit the resolution proposals, the media channel added. The third application, which was from the Panama-based Avantulo group, did not make it to the shortlist.
Synergy Group already holds a significant stake in the Columbian Avianca Airlines and is reportedly willing to invest up to Rs 3,000 crore in the now grounded Jet Airways. However, the investment is conditional and will be taken forward only if lenders of the airline take a large debt haircut, Antonio Guizzetti, one of the advisors to Synergy Aerospace said earlier last week. German Efromovich, Synergy Group’s owner, is expected to meet the State Bank of India (SBI) within the next week to present a business plan.
Meanwhile, another Indian airline has been staring at crisis for some time and the government is also looking to divest from it. The national carrier Air India has been long on the government’s radar for privatization and the government is firm with its plan, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently said. Speaking at a press conference, Hardeep S Puri reiterated that it is not the government’s business to run airlines and hence Maharaja be privatized.
Jet Airways, which was grounded on 17 April 2019, owes over Rs 8,200 crore due to Financial Creditors alone. According to the airline’s website, creditors have filed claims worth over Rs 30,000 crore. The airline was dragged to NCLT after months of struggling to get it afloat and was admitted to the Tribunal on June 20. Meanwhile, the slots of the beleaguered airline have been assigned to other airlines.
