(THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM)
After three state-owned oil firms on Friday said Air India owed them Rs 5,000 crore in unpaid fuel bills with payments being delayed by almost eight months, forcing retailers to snap supplies, the national carrier’s chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani has issued a statement citing shortage of funds.

The constraints on fuelling imposed on Air India by the OMCs at six stations is because of an overall shortage of funds but does not in any way reflect on the operational performance and recent efforts of the airline, Air India MD said.

It is a fact that the huge debt servicing affects every single aspect of the working of the airline, and expecting it to service out of its revenues, even the partial but still a huge debt, is indicative of lack of appreciation of working of airlines and also the ground realities facing Air India, he added.

Yet we need to fly high come what may, Air India MD further said.

IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) on Thursday afternoon stopped jet fuel or ATF supplies to Air India at six airports – Kochi, Pune, Patna, Ranchi, Vizag and Mohali – over payment defaults.

“The joint decision to stop fuel supply to Air India from six airports, i.e., Kochi, Mohali, Pune, Ranchi, Patna and Visakhapatnam, was taken by the oil marketing companies in the wake of long overdue payments to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore,” IOC said in a statement issued on behalf of the three firms explaining the constraints that led to take the harsh decision.