Jet Airways insolvency: NCLT allows 90 days' extension for grounded airline's bankruptcy process

Mumbai: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday allowed 90 days’ extension for the corporate insolvency resolution process of Jet Airways.

Jet Airways’ resolution professional had last week filed an application in NCLT seeking 90 days’ extension for the insolvency process of the grounded airline after it failed to attract any bidder.

The NCLT bench, comprising Bhaskara Pantula Mohan and Rajesh Sharma, granted the extension as the Committee of Creditors (CoC) voted for the same, with 70 percent votes in favour.

The CoC had on 18 February set a new deadline of 10 March for submission of bids for the grounded airline after South American conglomerate Synergy Group and New Delhi-based Prudent ARC failed to meet the previous deadline.

Later, Synergy Group had backed out of the bidding process over slot issues. The 10 March deadline was set after Russia’s Far East Asia Development Fund also evinced interest in Jet Airways.

The cash-strapped airline, which was grounded in April 2019, owes more than Rs 8,000 crore to banks, with public sector lenders having significant exposure.

The NCLT had on 20 June, 2019, admitted the insolvency petition filed by the lenders’ consortium led by the State Bank of India against Jet Airways.

The tribunal had also appointed Ashish Chhauchharia of Grant Thornton as the resolution professional for the crippled airline.