JOIN US SpiceJet on Thursday announced that it will infuse another Rs 300 crore into the low-cost airline through various means and increase its fleet size to 45-50 aircraft by March next year.
The announcement came after a meeting of SpiceJet’s board of directors in Chennai, which also announced the appointment of promoter Ajay Singh and his wife Shiwani Singh as directors, and Harsha Vardhana Singh, a former deputy director general of WTO, as its independent director.
In its filing at the Bombay Stock Exchange, it also said Ajay Singh, who took control of the airline from Kalanithi Maran-led Sun Group, has been designated as Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of the Company. “Singh will not draw any remuneration for the executive functions to be performed by him,” it said.
The board also “took on record the mobilisation of additional funding of Rs 300 crore through various sources” and the company’s “efforts to increase” its fleet size to 45-50 aircraft by the financial year ending March 2016. The airline currently has 35 planes — 20 Boeing 737s and 15 Bombardier Q400s.
Shiwani’s inclusion helps the company to fulfil the criteria set by the government to have at least one woman in the board of directors.
Sources said SpiceJet might soon induct Tejpreet S Chopra, former president and CEO of General Electric in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as an independent director.