Jet Airways shares drop as crisis deepens

Shares of Jet Airways Ltd dropped about 7 per cent on Wednesday as the company’s distress aggravated after the Indian government called for an emergency meeting to discuss the cash-strapped carrier’s woes. The government has asked state-run banks to rescue the airline without pushing it into bankruptcy, two people within the administration told Reuters.

State-run banks have been urged to convert debt into equity and take a stake in Jet in a rare move in India to use taxpayer money to save a struggling private-sector company from bankruptcy. The two people and another source, however, said this would be “transitory” and lenders could sell the stakes once Jet revives itself.