Jet's revival looks bleak as Anil Agarwal pulls out of race for acquiring cash-strapped airline

New Delhi, Aug 13: In yet another jolt to grounded Jet Airways, mining baron Anil Agarwal's Volcan Investment, which had submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for the grounded airline, deciding not to pursue the matter.

"The EoI for Jet Airways by Volcan was exploratory in nature. On further evaluation and considering other priorities, we intend to not pursue this further," said a statement from Agarwal's company.

The move leaves just two unnamed financial investors in the fray for the limited assets of the airline which stopped flying mid-April and is currently facing insolvency proceedings.

Etihad Airways also stay away

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, which currently owns 24 per cent in the full service carrier, has also decided to stay away from bidding.

Etihad Airways said it decided against submitting an EoI due to unresolved issues concerning the Mumbai-based airline's liabilities.

The Gulf airline had in May submitted a non-binding conditional EoI for Jet Airways to pick up a minority shareholding. However, among its conditions, Etihad wanted a commitment from banks on additional loans.

The Jet crisis

Jet Airways had grounded its operations on April 17 after running out of funds to stay afloat. The grounded airline became the first domestic airliner to go into bankruptcy after the Mumbai bench of the NCLT admitted an insolvency petition filed by State Bank of India (SBI) on behalf of 26 lenders on June 20.

In total, the cash-starved airline owes Rs 8,500 crore to the consortium of 26 banks. The airline owes more than Rs 13,000 crore to several vendors and nearly 23,000 employees.

Over 20,000 jobs at stake

The company has put at stake over 20,000 jobs and owes money to millions of passengers following flight cancellations that began since January apart from owing thousands of crores to its vendors and suppliers.