Mallya should take proactive interest, says Moily

Corporate affairs minister M Veerappa Moily on Saturday indicated cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines was “not professionally managed” and the onus was on promoter Vijay Mallya to convince lenders.

Asked if mismanagement was responsible for the trouble Kingfisher was in and whether the carrier should be allowed to fly into the sunset, Moily told reporters, “That’s not our (the government’s) desire; it (Kingfisher) has to survive.

“But the only question is, you know, he (Mallya) has to take some proactive interest; he has to manage it well”, he said, adding, “The whole difficulty with some of our airlines is these are not professionally managed. These include Indian Airlines and Air India. I think we need to work on these things”, Moily said.

Noting IndiGo was recording profits, he said other airlines have to learn a lesson from that carrier and “take it forward”.

Moily added Mallya had met him and he had offered suggestions to the Kingfisher Airlines chairman. “He (Mallya) has to give a possible solution to bankers and also to others”, he added.

The Vijay Mallya-owned airlines has a total debt of about Rs 7,057 crore and accumulated losses of about Rs 6,000 crore.

State Bank of India, the lead lender to Kingfisher Airlines, has said it would not consider any fresh loans for the debt-laden carrier until it raised new equity.