Big win for Jalan-Kalrock in the race to revive Jet Airways
The recent NCLT order boosts its chances of taking control of the grounded airline, but the lenders can still force a change in flight plan.
Why read this story?
Editor's note: It’s 7.30 am UK time. Ankit Jalan is about to take a flight out of Dublin, after attending the Airline Economics conference that had the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, leasing companies and financiers in attendance. He is a nephew of Murari Lal Jalan—who is one half of the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, the successful resolution applicant in the Jet Airways bankruptcy proceedings—and was in the Ireland capital to help kick-start the revival of the grounded airline. Just a week ago, the consortium got a fresh boost. In an order on 13 January, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal allowed JKC to assume ownership of Jet Airways. Not just that. The tribunal shot down nearly every argument put forward by Jet Airways’s lenders, who over the past few months had contended that the consortium hadn’t fulfilled conditions precedent to the transfer of ownership. The lenders, led by the State Bank of India, had also questioned the viability of JKC’s resolution plan, leading to murmurs that they now preferred the airline’s liquidation. The NCLT’s order has handed the consortium a “breakthrough”, …
More in Business
You may also like
The 72 hours that saw IndiGo unravel
A crew crunch, new regulatory norms and simmering discontent push India’s biggest airline into its biggest crisis yet, one that could seriously dent its reputation for reliability.
IndiGo has a forex headache
India’s largest airline surprisingly doesn’t seem to have a hedging strategy that is good enough to guard against a weakening rupee. This could potentially clip its wings.
How SpiceJet and India’s legal system nearly killed the aircraft leasing business
Interminable delays and multiple out-of-court settlements later, the world’s leading lessors have tweaked their India playbook—stiffer terms, higher rentals. The fallout has hit aviation startups hard.