Kingfisher requires $ 1bn to get out of financial situation: A K Ganguly
"If DGCA gives a report that safety cannot be assured certainly we will take action. We can cancel their license," he said.
Kingfisher Airlines would need $ 1bn to get out of the financial situation, said Anil Kumar Ganguly, an independent director, who resigned from the company’s board on Tuesday.
“My resignation from the KFA board was due to poor health. I have cardiac problem and I am highly diabetic,” he told NDTV in an interview.
He said that he expressed his poor health situation a number of times to the board. “My decision is unfortunate, I regret it. I should have stood by the company in this hour of need,” he said.
He blamed high government taxes for the troubled financial situation. Analysts have raised doubts about the viability of the company as it services debt of over Rs 7000 crore.
Jet fuel accounts for close to 40 per cent of an airline’s operating cost. “It was impossible for the company to avoid such a financial situation as the government taxes are too high,” he said.
He also said that although the company made plans at the board level, the execution of those plans was difficult.
Kingfisher Airlines was hit with a regulatory challenge after the last of its independent directors quit amid growing concerns about the struggling carrier's survival. Ganguly resigned from the company's board of directors due to ill health over the past few months that prevented him attending normal activities, Kingfisher Airlines had said on Monday. The latest resignation came less than a week after another member, Vijay Amritraj, quit the board of Kingfisher. The company had cited an increase in Mr Amritraj's travel schedule and other commitments for the resignation.
Ganguly's resignation left Kingfisher without an independent director on its board, which, analysts said, violated the market regulatory norms for listed companies and it would have to bring some independent members on the board at the earliest to ensure its operations are not impacted. The company now has three board members - Vijay Mallya, vice-chairman Subhash Gupte and the carrier's parent chief financial officer Ravi Nedungadi, according to the company website.