The Telegraph

The State Bank of India (SBI) is understood to have called a meeting of the lenders with Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airways CEO Tony Douglas on Wednesday.

The meeting has been called after the shareholders of Jet Airways cleared various proposals that will pave the way for banks to pick up a majority stake in the beleaguered airline.

The lenders, led by the SBI, are also expected to infuse urgent funds into the airline. The airline may also come up with a rights issue that could see participation from both Goyal and Etihad. It is not yet clear whether the rights issue will come up for discussion at Wednesday’s meeting.

Quoting sources, news agency PTI reported that the meeting would be held at SBI’s office in Mumbai and that both Goyal and Douglas would be present.

On Monday, Jet Airways and Etihad had said, in a joint statement, that they, along with key financial stakeholders, were working towards the finalisation of the bank-led provisional resolution plan for the airline.

The two carriers had also expressed confidence that once the plan is implemented, Jet Airways would “re-emerge as a viable and robust airline to reclaim its rightful place as an airline of first choice for its customers”. The joint statement was issued by Goyal and Douglas.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Jet scrip closed 2.14 per cent lower at Rs 224.25.

Jet Airways, which is in operation for over 25 years, has been grappling with financial woes and is looking to rejig debt as well as raise funds.

On February 14, the Jet Airways board had approved a bank-led provisional resolution plan, whereby lenders would become the largest shareholders in the airline. Its shareholders had also approved the conversion of loan into shares and other proposals during the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last Thursday.

On Monday, the SBI had also said that no decision had been taken on moving the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Jet Airways.

However, sources close to the lenders and key shareholders said the SBI was considering various options, including eventually moving the tribunal seeking insolvency proceedings, if other attempts to recover its loans fail to yield desired results.