New Delh, 18 September (H.S.): SpiceJet admitted not paying its GST, PF and other dues running into hundreds of crores. As per its statement filed to regulator, the company accepted statutory

dues amounting to nearly ₹427 crore between April 2020 and August 2024, which

includes ₹219 crore in tax deducted at source (TDS), ₹71 crore in goods and

services tax (GST), and ₹135 crore towards provident fund (PF) contribution.

These

revelations were part of SpiceJet’s preliminary placement document, submitted

to the BSE to raise up to ₹3,000 crore through a qualified institutional

placement (QIP) process at a floor price of ₹64.79 per share.

SpiceJet also admitted being in

tough financial position which forced the management to ground its 36 of its 58

aircrafts due to unpaid dues to aircraft lessors, unable to afford aircraft maintenance,

unpaid airport fees and no money for buying aircraft spare parts. To note, airline

already had to send its many staff on three months unpaid leave as company was not

in position to pay their salaries and company has owed about ₹119 crores to

its employees.

To stay operational, SpiceJet is trying to raise ₹3,000 crore by selling shares to eligible institutional participants through

a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP). As per now, Yes Bank has given

consent for the QIP, but ICICI and Indian Bank are yet to do so, the airline

stated.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Nimish kumar