Will invest Rs 400 cr in SpiceJet on CCI nod, says Ajay Singh

New Delhi: SpiceJet’s recapitalisation plan is awaiting a nod from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) but may not need any approval from market regulator Sebi. Incoming promoter Ajay Singh told CNBC-TV18 that Rs 400 crore will be invested in the airline “immediately on getting CCI approval, which may happen in next 1-2 days”.[caption id=“attachment_2071519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Funding issue. AFP[/caption] Though Singh declined to speak further on SpiceJet’s recapitalisation plan, which requires Rs 1,500 crore total investment by him, sources said plan was submitted to CCI because acquisition of any company with a turnover of more than Rs 4,500 crore is scruitinised by the Commission. These sources insisted that Sebi Takeover guidelines specify that there is no need for an acquirer to make an open offer to public shareholders of a listed company if the revival and reconstruction plan has been approved by the relevant ministry. They said in SpiceJet’s case, the revival has been approved by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and there was really no need for a separate waiver from Sebi for an open offer. Singh plans to acquire a little over 58 percent stake in SpiceJet which was held by the Maran family earlier. The board of directors of SpiceJet has already approved the acquisition and Marans’ representatives have stepped down from the board. Sources quoted earlier said the airline continues to operate 17 Boeing 737 aircraft and 14 Q400s and the plan to raise the Boeing fleet to 26 aircraft in the summer schedule stays. This, despite at least three aircraft lessors having moved Indian courts to repossess 11 Boeing aircraft on non-payment of lease rentals by SpiceJet. An official in the Ministry of Civil Aviation said earlier today that the court has reserved its order on repossession of aircraft and as of now, no lessor has been allowed to repossess any aircraft from SpiceJet. Meanwhile, in a statement earlier today, SpiceJet announced new flights and additional frequencies this summer. Two new daily flights to Dubai and a new flight between Chennai and Vijayawada. SpiceJet also said it is adding frequencies to domestic routes such as Delhi and Amritsar (now twice daily), Bangalore and Mangalore (now three times daily), Mumbai and Jabalpur (twice daily), Delhi and Jabalpur (two times daily), Delhi and Dehradun (three times daily), Delhi and Dharamshala (twice daily), Delhi and Jaipur (three times daily), Delhi and Srinagar (three times daily), Delhi and Udaipur (twice daily), Hyderabad and Tirupati (three times daily), Jammu and Srinagar (twice daily). As part of restructuring, SpiceJet is also suspending service to six cities - Aurangabad, Belgaum, Indore, Lucknow, Surat, and Thiruvananthapuram.