New Delhi
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday approved the liquidation of defunct budget airline Go First. The decision was given by a bench comprising Judicial Member Mahendra Khandelwal and Technical Member Dr Sanjeev Ranjan, who ruled in favor of the application submitted by the Lenders Committee (CoC) of the airline. Let us tell you that under liquidation, the debts and liabilities of a company are paid by selling its assets. After this process the company also ceases to exist.
what are the details
Wadia Group-owned Go First had ceased operations on May 2, 2023 and sought voluntary insolvency proceedings under Section 10 of the Insolvency Code (IBC) on May 10. A Resolution Professional (RP) was appointed to oversee the assets and operations of the airline following its entry into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). However, the COC, citing shortage of aircraft and operational resources, determined in September 2024 that the airline had no other path to revival and filed for liquidation.
huge debt on company
Let us tell you that the airline has a total debt of about ₹ 11,000 crore. Banks owe ₹6,521 crore on this. Of these, Central Bank of India is the largest lender with ₹1,987 crore, followed by Bank of Baroda with ₹1,430 crore, Deutsche Bank with ₹1,320 crore and IDBI Bank with ₹58 crore. Besides this, the airline owes ₹2,000 crore to aircraft lessors, ₹1,000 crore to vendors, ₹600 crore to travel agents and ₹500 crore to refund customers. At the same time, Go First also borrowed ₹1,292 crore under the government’s emergency loan scheme launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the airline’s top assets is a 94-acre land parcel in Thane, worth about ₹3,000 crore. Mumbai includes an Airbus training facility and its headquarters.
