Mumbai: Former Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal is likely to submit initial bids for stake in the airline, sources said. SBI Caps, which invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for stake sale in Jet Airways on April 8, has already extended the date for submission of bids to April 12 from April 10 earlier. SBI Caps has the mandate for Jet Airways’ sale on behalf of the SBI-led consortium of domestic lenders to the debt-ridden private carrier.
It has put between 31 per cent and up to 75 per cent in the airline for investors. “Naresh Goyal is expected to submit initial bids for Jet Airways sale on Thursday,” a source close to Goyal said. The bidding norms allow Goyal to participate in the sale process. Goyal’s response on the issue was awaited. SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar last month said, “It could be financial investor, it could be airline… including Naresh Goyal himself or Etihad. Nobody is barred from bidding or taking over the airline as per the rule.”
Pledges 26 pc
Meanwhile, Goyal has pledged 26 pc stake in the ailing airline as security for loans from Punjab National Bank, according to a regulatory filing. Jet Airways Thursday informed the stock exchanges that Goyal has pledged over 2.95 crore shares or 26.01 per cent stake with Punjab National Bank. The pledge was created on April 4 as “security for existing/ new borrowings taken by Jet Airways (India) Ltd,” the filing to the BSE said. On the same day, over 5.79 crore shares held by him were released. Those were kept under “non disposal undertaking” as security for borrowings taken by the airline, as per the filing.
Final Descent?
The government is likely to review Jet Airways’ eligibility to continue its international operations after it gets a report from the regulator DGCA on the issue, a top ministry official said. On the verge of going belly up amid acute cash crunch, the airline has reduced its fleet to just 14 planes as of Thursday–way down from 123 planes in operations at the peak.
“We have sought for all the details from Jet. The DGCA has asked for the details. After we get those details, we will see to it,” aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola told PTI over phone, when asked whether the ministry is planning to review Jet’s eligibility to continue its international operations in view of the almost negligible fleet. Naresh Goyal, the founder of Jet Airways, and his wife Anita Goyal last month stepped down from the board of the ailing airline, ceding majority control to the consortium