Comments
Among the entities that have explored the option of investing in Jet Airways over the past week, perhaps the most interesting one is a Qatar-based firm called Erigo Trading & Contracting WLL.
Erigo collects used cooking oil from restaurants and businesses across Qatar and refines it into environment-friendly bio-diesel. It doesn’t fly planes.
“We are a small group but I have friends who are running small-scale businesses in Qatar. We thought we can take over Jet Airways but only if a bank can support us,” Haksar CH, Director of Erigo, told BusinessLine in response to an email query.
Haksar not only wanted to take over Jet but also wanted to initiate talks with the Kerala government to revive the idea of starting Air Kerala. “If banks are ready to support us we will take up this matter with the Kerala government as they had an intention to start an airline previously,” he said. ‘Air Kerala’ was proposed by the State government a while back but it has so far remained on paper. Abu Dhabi-based businessman Yousuffali MA, who owns the Lulu supermarket chain, was also keen to get the airline going.
While Haksar has the will and the idea, what he lacks is hard cash. “We are not in a position to raise ₹1,000 crore. What we have is courage to run the show,” he said.
Erigo finally did not submit an EoI for Jet. After all, Jet’s lenders are looking for investors who can put cash on the table. “When I saw the ₹1,000-crore requirement in the EoI documents my dream got washed away,” said Haksar.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.