Air India (AI, Delhi International) has opened talks with creditor banks over the possible conversion of INR100 billion (USD1.49 billion) worth of debt to equity airline sources have told India's Economic Times.
In its report, the paper says Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani has been holding meetings with a 26-member consortium of lenders that includes the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, and the Central Bank of India.
The talks fall under the auspices of the Reserve Bank of India's Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) which gives financially distressed firms the option of debt-conversion deals with willing creditor firms.
"About INR20,000 crore (USD2.98 billion) of our loans have been found to be sustainable (which can be serviced through its cash flow) and about INR10,000 crore is (proposed) to be converted into equity," a source said.
In March, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma, told India's Parliament Air India's total debt burden amounted to INR513.6 billion (USD7.65 billion). The carrier currently pays INR40 billion (USD792 million) worth of interest on an annual basis although should the debt-to-equity deals go through, this could decrease by INR10 billion (USD149 million), the source added.
Following years of sustained losses, the airline is expected to register a INR1 billion (USD14.9 million) profit for its 2015/16 financial year, an announcement which could make Air India equity more palatable to its creditors.
