New Delhi, May 5: National and international airlines owe a whopping Rs 4,202 crore air turbine fuel bills to the public sector oil companies.

Out of this, Air-India and Indian Airlines together have held up the payment of Rs 1,120 crore. This due is, however, expected to be settled because the payment is held up due to a dispute over the refund of excise duty claims.

Recovering the remaining Rs 3,082 crore unpaid bills will be extremely difficult for the oil PSUs because this amount is due with those private airlines which have closed down their operations.

The names of both domestic and international airlines figure on the list of defaulters. NEPC Airline is the largest defaulter with outstanding dues of Rs 1, 843 crore, followed by East West Airlines which owes Rs 263 crore. Citi Link and Tajakistan International Airlines owe around Rs 50 crore each, while Raj Air has outstanding dues to the tune of Rs 37.5 crore. Continental Airlines and Air Kazakhstan each owe close Rs 13 crore to the public sector oil companies. Vayudoot, the public sector local airline, which had merged with Indian Airlines after it fell sick, has a pending fuel bill of Rs 800 crore.

This information was tabled in Parliament today by petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in a written reply to an unstarred question. The management of the oil companies have also come under fire for continuing to supply fuel to these airlines despite their defaulting on huge bills.

The oil firms are reported to have initiated legal action against the defaulting airlines, which have closed operations since and left the country. But the chances of recovering the money are remote.

As far as the Vayudoot dues are concerned, the moratorium imposed by the civil aviation ministry had expired on March 31, 2004 and the oil firms have requested that the payment be paid in lump sum instead of annual instalments.