SpiceJet is planning to raise $150 million (over Rs 900 crore) in debt or equity and is in discussions with private equity firms and banks for the same.
The funds will be used as working capital and to repay dues, the airline said.
SpiceJet underwent a change in ownership in January with founder-promoter Ajay Singh stepping in as chairman. It then received a Rs 400 crore infusion and is undergoing fleet expansion after a difficult winter season, which saw grounding of aircraft, curtailment of schedule and cancellation of flights.
Earlier Singh had indicated he and other investors would pump in Rs 1,400 crore by April. Asked about it a SpiceJet spokesperson said, "Funding is in process. We can not comment on specifics."
In an interview with Airfinance Journal, last week, SpiceJet's acting chief financial officer Kiran Koteshwar said the airline went into a crisis as there was no structured expansion plan.
"The other weakness is we used a lot of operational cash to fund the capital expansion, which normally should (instead) be used for these economic shocks," Koteshwar said. He added that in future SpiceJet should maintain a "cushion" of three to six months of expenses in cash to prevent such a situation happening again.
Post initial fund infusion, the airline settled its tax dues, solved payment disputes with aircraft lessors and is regular with its salary payments.
SpiceJet is operating 20 Boeing 737s (including three taken on lease from a Czech airline) and 15 Bombardier Q 400 turbo prop planes. It is looking to add another 7-8 Boeing 737s over next few months and has decided to retain its Q 400 fleet.
The airline management had earlier said it would evaluate whether to retain or sell the Q400 planes in view of high maintenance costs.
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