King of good times on bad times…
VIJAY MALLYA of Kingfisher Airlines has been in the news since last 6 months or so,for the right or wrong reasons.I have been following the developments very closely and I have a soft corner for this Richard Branson of India…Here is a link to a new item in the Financial Express of 7th Jan 2012 :
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/fe-editorial-fixing-kingfisher/896738/0
In response to the above,this is what I wrote by way of a letter to the Editor of FE:
Dear Sir, This refers to your Editorial titled :”Fixing Kingfisher” in FE of 7th Jan 2012.You have raised a very valid issue of application of common norms while declaring an asset as a Non Productive Asset (NPA) – be it a Private Sector unit (Kingfisher Airlines) or a Public Sector Undertaking (Air India).In spite of the shocking and revealing findings of Deloitte Consulting ‘s report raising doubts of the techno-economic feasibility and viability of Air India,the Government continues to pump in huge amounts frequently by way of booster doses to this ailing white elephant,just to save Air India from being classified as an NPA whereas,a private entreprise like Kingfisher Airlines is made to suffer for lack of financial support for saving it from doomsday.The problems of Kingfisher have got compounded mainly due to double standards adopted by the Government. Issues like charging additinal duties on ATF from private airlines,not giving them fuel on normal credit terms,charging heavy parking and other airport fees etc, if reviewed with uniformity with public sector,would certainly keep up the entrepreneurial spirits of private enterprises like Kingfisher etc which had given air travellers an innovative and a cheaper alternative of low cost flying ( Kingfisher had rightly earned the sobriquet of “King of Good Times” not very long ago ! ) but,once such enterprises are declared as sick or NPA,no financial institutions will think of or dare to come forward to hold their hands in such moments of crash landing ! Government should come out with a suitable long term policy for saving private aviation sector enterprises before they are compelled to die an unnatural death !–– J S BROCA,NEW DELHI.
As usual, an edited version of my letter with some ommissions and additions,has been published in FE of today.Here is the final version of my letter on the subject :
Letters to the Editor
The Financial Express
Posted: Monday, Jan 09, 2012
Posted: Monday, Jan 09, 2012
Doomsday for Kingfisher : Apropos of the editorial “Fixing Kingfisher” (FE, January 7), you have raised a very valid issue of application of common norms while declaring an asset as a non-performing asset (NPA)—be it a private sector unit (Kingfisher Airlines) or a public sector undertaking (Air India). In spite of the shocking and revealing findings of Deloitte Consulting’s report raising doubts of the techno-economic feasibility and viability of Air India, the government continues to pump in huge amounts frequently by way of booster doses to this ailing white elephant, just to save Air India from being classified as an NPA, whereas a private enterprise like Kingfisher Airlines is made to suffer for lack of financial support for saving it from doomsday. Government should come out with a suitable long-term policy for saving private aviation sector enterprises before they are compelled to die an unnatural death! It is really unconscionable that private firms be held up to a standard that doesn’t apply to PSUs.-JS Broca, New Delhi
Those of you who would like to read the letter directly on FE’s website can use the following link:
Your views,comments,will be welcomed.
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