Efforts being made to help Kingfisher: SBI chief

Bangalore, Dec 19: State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Chaudhury said aviation major Kingfisher, now in distress due to mounting debt problems, was an important company and efforts were being made by banks to make it viable.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a SBI function here, he said Kingfisher was a very big player in aviation sector and efforts to ease its problems were on.

The Vijay Mallya-led private carrier is in a financial mess struggling to service its loans that has run up to over Rs 6,000 crore. Chaudhury said as Kingfisher owed money to multiple vendors, it requires a lot of coordination and cooperation among all the lenders.

"As late as yesterday, there was a high level meeting going on. So every measure is being taken that Kingfisher will remain viable," he said.

On restructuring of loans by state-owned Air India, the SBI chief said restructuring has been blessed by the government and everybody is keen that it remains viable as it is the national carrier.

PTI