Mallya to infuse Rs 425 cr into Kingfisher: SBI

The debt-laden airline says it will start operations with its own funding

Kingfisher promoter Vijay Mallya is ready to infuse Rs 425 crore into the airline and restart its limited operations as soon as DGCA gives a go-ahead, the lead lender to the grounded carrier SBI said today.

SBI Deputy Managing Director for mid-corporates Shyamal Acharya, after a meeting with the top management of the airline here this evening, said Mallya, however, did not give any timeline for fund infusion or restart of the operations.

Apart from Mallya, from the airline's side the meeting was attended by group CFO Ravi Nedungadi and airline CEO Sanjay Agarwal, while the 17-member lenders were represented by mid-level managers.

Acharya also said Mallya did not ask for any fresh lending, saying the promised Rs 425 crore will come from his own resources. He also said that Mallya did not reveal the name of investors/airlines that he is in discussion with.

SBI has a non-standard exposure of Rs 1,500 crore to the carrier.

Acharya further said that lenders have constituted a group of representatives from SBI, PNB, BoB, Bank of India and IDBI Bank to discuss the limited operations, and the first meeting of the group may take place within a few days.