Kalrock-Jalan consortium confident of getting NCLT approval for Jet revival plan

The consortium of Kalrock Capital and Murari Lal Jalan is confident of getting the nod for its plan to revive Jet Airways and is not backing out of the resolution process, it said on Thursday.

The two parties issued a joint statement amid delays in approval of resolution plan and speculation of their exit.

In the joint statement, Jalan and Manoj Madnani, board member of Kalrock Capital, said, “The Jalan-kalrock Consortium is committed towards their submitted resolution plan and for the revival of Jet Airways and have no intentions of withdrawing from the ongoing resolution process. The consortium has faith in the Indian judicial system and is confident that their plan would be approved by the adjudicating authority as is, and at the earliest.”

“The plan submitted by the consortium takes care of all the stakeholders of Jet Airways, including its financial and operational creditors,” it added.

According to the plan, the consortium wants to restart Jet Airways as a full service airline with bases in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru and operate international flights to Europe and West Asia.

Last October the committee of creditors (COC) approved the consortium’s resolution plan, which was then submitted to the National Company Law Tribunal in November. The group had hoped to start operations from summer of 2021 and began talks with aircraft manufacturers and lessors.

However, the plan is yet to receive approval and employee unions have moved the tribunal seeking a copy. The NCLT is expected to pass an order on February 22.

There has been unease among Jet employees over the time taken to decide the matter, but lawyers handling insolvency cases say there was nothing unusual in this, considering infrastructure constraints. NCLT matters are being heard virtually since the easing of the lockdown.

Creditors, too, have expressed frustration as delay in approval would lead to further devaluation of assets.

Earlier in the month, the COC had filed an appeal in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal seeking direction for expeditious hearing of the resolution plan, but it did not get relief.

Kalrock is a financial advisory and asset management company focused on real estate, venture capital and special situations. The firm has partnered with Dubai-based Jalan, who has investments in diverse sectors like real estate, mining, trading, FMCG, across various countries like the UAE, India, Russia, and Uzbekistan.