Jet Airways beats Kingfisher Airlines in fuel payment delays

Contrary to popular perception, it is not Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines which owes the most money to public sector oil companies. According to the information given by junior petroleum minister Jitin Prasada, Jet Airways topped the list of debtors with total obligations of Rs960 crore at the end of June. The Naresh Goyal firm was followed closely by Mallya's Kingfisher with a net outstanding obligations of Rs814 crore.

The numbers also showed that the so-called 'low cost' airlines, such as SpiceJet and IndiGo, were much better at making timely payments for their fuel that the two 'full service' airlines that charge higher fees from passengers.

SpiceJet owed just Rs75 crore, followed by GoAir and South India-focused Paramount Airways with Rs19 crore each and IndiGo with just Rs 60 lakhs, according to the minister.

The biggest creditor to private airlines was Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest oil retailer. Jet accounted for Rs830 crore out of the Rs954 crore worth of exposure the company had to the sector. IOC was followed by Hindustan Petroleum, which had exposure of Rs555 crore, out which Rs536 crore was owed by Kingfisher Airlines. BPCL had an exposure of Rs378 crore, taking net outstanding by all three firms to Rs1,888 crore.