Hinduja Group Set To Bid For Grounded Jet Airways After Receiving Etihad, Naresh Goyal’s Backing

The Hinduja Group is set to begin the bidding process for the grounded Jet Airways this week, the Economic Times reports. The conglomerate company has already earned the nod of strategic investor Etihad Airways and the airline's founder Naresh Goyal.

The SP Hinduja-led group is said to have engaged investment bankers led by the SBI Capital Markets for due diligence. The development comes as a huge relief after several leading conglomerates declined approaches by lenders and Goyal to rescue the airline, which was once the crowning jewel of the Indian aviation sector.

In the past, Hinduja group had eyed Air India when the state-run and debt-ridden airline had come up for privatisation. That didn't materialise though. The group now expects the banks to take a sizeable haircut of their loans which according to the initial calculations mount up to as much as Rs 12,000 crore.

It must be noted though that to revive the grounded airline would be tough given the top management at Jet Airways has already quit, and a large number of its experienced pilots and commanders are being absorbed by domestic and international airlines like IndiGo, Korean Air, Qatar Airways and Rwanda Air.