Beleaguered carrier Kingfisher Airlines has been asked to pay Rs 60 crore at the earliest to clear service tax dues, a top finance ministry official said on Wednesday.
"There is no question of leeway to Kingfisher on payment of service tax," S.K. Goel, chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, said.
Vijay Mallya, chairman of the airline, told employees earlier this week that the company had paid Rs 20 crore of service tax.
Earlier this week, Mr. Mallya had written to the airline's staff saying that their long-pending salaries would be paid starting this week since the company's accounts had been unfrozen by tax authorities. "My only focus now is to start paying your seriously overdue salaries," he had said in the letter.
The staff, in response to the letter, had threatened to strike work if they were not paid their dues by 20 April. The threat was later withdrawn.
The airline owes $1.3 billion to banks, with State Bank of India and ICICI Bank being the major lenders. Mallya is under pressure to inject equity into Kingfisher, which has slashed its flight schedule and grounded most of its fleet.
Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2012
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