Founder, ex-Chairman, and formerly the largest shareholder of Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International) Naresh Goyal offered to inject INR2.5 billion rupees (USD35.9 million) from his own funds to revive the dormant airline, Live Mint has reported.
In a letter to the staff, Goyal said that he had already made "every possible sacrifice and commitment to ensure that the best interests of our Jet Airways family are served".
Goyal's cash offer comes on top of a 41.1% stake which he already pledged to the creditors led by the State Bank of India. Goyal's stake currently dropped from 51% to just 9.9%. In addition, he and his wife quit all executive functions as a condition for a possible bailout by investors.
Investors have until May 10 to submit binding bids for a stake of up to 75%. While Etihad Airways, Indigo Partners, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), and TPG Capital have been shortlisted by the banks, so far none of them expressed binding interest in the airline.
Reuters has reported, citing unnamed officials, that the government is losing hope that investors will save Jet Airways and is slowly accepting that the airline might not restart.
Jet Airways grounded all flights on April 17. The airline has around INR80 billion rupees (USD1.2 billion) in debt and total liabilities exceeding INR200 billion rupees (USD2.9 billion).
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) plans to reallocate ex-Jet Airways permits for international flights around mid-May. The authorities have so far temporarily reallocated slots at Mumbai International and Delhi International to other carriers, although Jet Airways could still get them back if it restarts.
