Bangalore: Union Minister for Corporate Affairs M Veerappa Moily on Saturday said that the cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines was ‘not professionally managed’ and the onus was on promoter Vijay Mallya to convince the lenders.
Asked if mismanagement was responsible for Kingfisher’s troubled times and that the carrier should be allowed to fly into the sunset, Moily told reporters on the sidelines of a function “that’s not our (Government’s) desire; it (Kingfisher) has to survive.”
“But the only question is, you know, he (Mr Mallya) has to take some proactive interest; he has to manage it well. The whole difficulty with some of our airlines is that they are not professionally managed, which include Indian Airlines and Air India. I think we need to work on these things,” he added.
Stating that IndiGo was making profits, he said other airlines have to learn a lesson from that carrier and ‘take it forward’.
Moily said Mr Mallya also met him and he suggested ‘something’ to the Kingfisher Airlines’ Chairman. “He has to give a possible solution to banks and also to others,” the Union Minister added The Vijay Mallya-owned airlines had 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 raises new equity itself. (UNI)
