SpiceJet rallies nearly 20% on fund infusion plans by year-end

NEW DELHI: SpiceJet Ltd rallied as much as 19.6 per cent in trade on Monday after the government has asked troubled SpiceJet's potential investors, led by co-founder Ajay Singh, to put in at least Rs 200 crore into the airline by the year-end, TNN reported.

Singh, who had sold his stake to current promoter Kalanithi Maran in 2010, is planning to pump in about Rs 1,300 crore along with a couple of global PE funds and re-acquire the airline, added the report.

At 10:40 a.m.; SpiceJet was trading 17 per cent higher at Rs 18.50. It hit a low of Rs 16.20 and a high of Rs 18.90 in trade today.

"We have told the potential investors that they must translate their words into action very fast. We have asked the Airports Authority of India not to put SpiceJet on cash-and-carry for some time and this arrangement cannot go on endlessly," TNN said in a report quoting a senior official.

The low-cost carrier (LCC) needs about Rs 2,000 crore in all, with Rs 1,400 crore required immediately to clear dues. Sun Group chief Kalanithi Maran and his firm KAL Airways have over 58 per cent stake in the LCC. Maran is learnt to be keen to exit SpiceJet, said the report.