Kingfisher may fly again as Mallya agrees to infuse Rs425 crore

Kingfisher Airlines may fly again with promoter Vijay Mallya agreeing to infuse Rs425 crore into the grounded airline and partially restart operations once the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gives the go-ahead, the cash-strapped airline's lead lender SBI said today.

Shyamal Acharya, deputy managing director for mid-corporates at SBI, said Mallya has agreed to infuse Rs425 crore, out of own source. He, however, did not give any timeline for the fund infusion or restart of operations.

Acharya was talking to newsmen after a meeting of the lenders group with top management of the airline in the evening. Besides Mallya, group CFO Ravi Nedungadi and airline CEO Sanjay Agarwal also attended the meeting.

SBI, which has a non-standard exposure of Rs1,500 crore in Kingfisher Airlines, had earlier said that the airline may require around Rs5,500 crore to restart operations.

Kingfisher Airlines has an exposure of Rs7,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks, led by State Bank of India.

Acharya said Mallya did not ask for any fresh lending, but said Mallya has also not revealed the source of the promised Rs425 crore.