Oil Marketers To Meet Air India Today Over Repayment Of Dues, Says Indian Oil Chairman
OMCs had stopped supply of jet fuel to Air India at six domestic airports because of unpaid dues worth Rs 5,000 crore.
State-owned oil marketers will meet cash-strapped Air India today over payment of outstanding dues, said Sanjiv Singh, chairman at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
But he hastened to add that there’s no payment assurance from the national carrier.
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan also said today that oil marketing companies are talking to Air India to solve the fuel supply issue.
The oil marketing companies had on Aug. 22 stopped supply of jet fuel to the debt-ridden airline at six domestic airports because of unpaid dues worth Rs 5,000 crore. Air India said it was unable to handle the huge debt-service liabilities in the absence of equity support and has not been able to make the payment.
Total debt of the national carrier stood at Rs 58,351 crore as of March, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had told Rajya Sabha recently. Its provisional loss, too, widened in the financial year ended March 2019 even as the government infused more money in the airline. The government is planning to sell its stake in the debt-laden carrier but hasn’t tasted success yet.