Kingfisher Airlines owes oil PSUs Rs 950 crore

Kingfisher Airlines owned Rs 1,030.08 crore in unpaid bills for buying jet fuel from Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum on December 31, 2008. It stood at Rs 950.46 crore as on May 31, 2009, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

On the other hand, National Aviation Company India Ltd (NACIL),which operates the merged state carriers Air India and Indian Airlines, has reduced its outstanding from Rs 1,311.91 crore to Rs 472.93 crore. Jet Airways has reduced outstanding from Rs 1,266.21 crore to Rs 760.07 crore, Deora said.

Kingfisher owned most to HPCL, with its unpaid fuel bill running into Rs 598.78 crore.

It owed HPCL Rs 523.34 crore on December 31, 2008. Kingfisher also owned BPCL Rs 314.32 crore and another Rs 37.36 crore to IOC.

NACIL reduced its outstanding towards IOC from Rs 877.13 crore to Rs 307.49 crore while that towards BPCL came down to Rs 91.56 crore from Rs 250.43 crore. It owned HPCL Rs 73.88 crore, down from Rs 184.35 crore, Deora said. In case airlines fail to pay their dues, they are put on ‘cash and carry’ (pay cash to buy fuel) and interest is recovered on all overdue payments, he said. Deora said Jet Airways had reduced its outstanding towards IOC from Rs 1,053.08 crore to Rs 644.96 crore while that towards BPCL to Rs 111.77 crore from Rs 210.46 crore.

Besides the three airlines, Paramount Airways owed Rs 25.82 crore to oil companies and Spice Jet Rs 16.24 crore.

“As on December 31, 2008 and May 31, 2009, five airlines owned Rs 3,658.06 crore and Rs 2,225.52 crore respectively to oil companies,” he said.

“The issue of outstanding dues was also taken up with the Ministry of Civil Aviation which advised the airlines to clear their outstanding dues promptly,” he added.
Press Trust of India

Defaulter’s list

* Kingfisher: Rs 950 crore.
* NACIL: Rs 472.93 crore.
* Jet Airways: Rs 760.07 cr.
* Paramount: Rs 25.82 crore.
* Spice Jet: Rs 16.24 crore.