Ligare Aviation, airline business of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, books 'unimaginable losses'

Ligare Aviation, the charter airline business of former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, is close to winding down its business after it ran into "unimaginable losses".

The airline has even started the process of selling off its aircraft, one of its former executives said. The claims could not be verified by DNA Money.

When contacted, Jitender Singh Chandel, executive director at Ligare Voyages, refused to speak, saying that he is travelling out of the country. An email sent to him remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

The airline was started in 2006 as Ran Air Services and offered turboprops, helicopter, jets as part of its non-scheduled operations. The airline later got into air ambulance service and even toyed with the idea of starting fraction ownership model. The company not only offered services to corporates, to politicians during elections, etc, but also set up an entire eco-system for the aviation industry, including crew training centres, air craft maintenance units, which incurred huge investments.

The industry insiders claim that the high point for the airline came when it entered into the regional connectivity business with the start of Air Mantra in 2011. The airline started its commercial operations a year later in 2012 and flew mainly to North Indian cities of Chandigarh, Amritsar, New Delhi. However, the operations had to be folded within eight months due to lack of demand, prompting the management to dilute the company.

"The situation prevailing then was not conducive for the success of regional operations. So the airline folded its operations within months of starting the operations," said the source.

A codified scheme for regional connectivity scheme (RCS) came much later in 2017. Analysts claim that almost all the airlines which got into regional connectivity before the introduction of UDAN folded their businesses one after another.

As per the information available with aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) records, Ligare Aviation at present has a fleet of two Falcon 2000, two SKA B200, one Falcon & X aircraft and one Agusta 109S Helicopter operating flights on domestic and international sectors. Its Air operator permit is valid till 2022.

The company even had an embarrassing time, when seven of its jets were briefly seized by the Customs department over non-payment of dues in August 2015.

The divide between Singh brothers came out in the open when in his petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Shivinder Singh levelled allegations against his elder brother Malvinder Singh and former Religare CEO Sunil Godhwani.

Shivinder Singh in this petition alleged that "the decisions taken in Religare's NBFC arm; the transaction and subsequent management of the sale of the group's then flagship - Ranbaxy to Daiichi, culminating in one of the most damaging arbitration cases in the history of India Inc, the unimaginable losses accumulated in running a private charter airline business (Ligare Aviation) all these only go to show that the malaise is systemic."

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VERTICAL PLUNGE
6 - Number of aircraft presently in the fleet of the airline  
Rs 67 crore – loss the company reported on March 31, 2015  
Rs 6 crore - it reported revenues in 2015

CRASHING FORTUNES
The company was started in 2006 as Ran Air Services and offered turboprops, helicopters and jets as part of its non-scheduled operations   
It entered into regional connectivity business in 2011 with the start of Air Mantra, which catered to North Indian cities of Chandigarh, Amritsar, New Delhi 

Source: DNA Money