Banks to take every possible action to recover Kingfisher debt, says Arun Jaitley

Mumbai: Indian banks will take "every possible action" to recover the money owed by liquor baron Vijay Mallya's grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told parliament on Thursday.

The carrier owed banks Rs 90.91 billion ($1.35 billion) including interest as of end-November, Jaitley said, responding to demands from the opposition Congress Party that the government make a statement.

"Banks are going to certainly take every possible action to recover not only from him but many other defaulters," he said.

Mallya, who is a guarantor to the Kingfisher loans, left India last week, a lawyer for the government told Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the court to order his return.