And going by this, even if the debt-laden national carrier manages to get a fresh debt recast plan done, it is unlikely to go through with the lenders, unless some basic CDR provisions are given a go by, such as scrapping the provision of tying dividend payment to profitability, whether AI makes money or not, pointed out these bankers.

The lenders are also not happy with the "special treatment" that State Bank got in the CDR proposal, prepared by its own i-bank arm SBI Caps, as despite the fact that most of them do not have as much exposure as SBI, they are forced to shell out much higher than the Government-run lender.

The lenders, barring SBI, which has given a Rs 1,100-crore cash-to-credit loan to AI, and therefore a low provisioning of only about Rs 37 crore, are also peeved at the way SBI Caps "short-changed" them in the CDR plan, as those with similar exposure will see a hole as much as Rs 500 to 700 crore in their balancesheets if it goes through, a senior public sector banker, who sought not to be named, said.

The bankers said it is not the first time that SBI Caps has "goofed up" the loan syndication and CDRs (corporate debt restructuring). In the first place they were roped into extend loans to companies like AI, Kingfisher Airlines, GTL and Bharati Shipyard, which are all now desperately seeking CDR packages.

The junked Rs 22,500-crore CDR envisages converting Rs 11,000 crore of the working capital into long-term debts ending 2020, and Rs 7,000 crore into cumulative redeemable preferential shares but without an assured return, which will be redeemable from 15th and 20th year onwards.

That apart, it envisages the Government infusing up to Rs 30,000 crore into AI over the next 10 years, and the airline selling and leasing back the first 14 of the 27 Dreamliners.

The plan will allow Air India to save up to Rs 1,000 crore on an annual basis. The RBI had last November given an in-principle approval to the plan and set a March 20 deadline to complete the process. As a special case, RBI has allowed banks to make provisions for a five-year period instead of the normal three years.

The CDR plan also aims at AI turning Ebidta positive by 2013, cash positive by 2018, and in net profit by 2020.

But a senior SBI official, who wished not to be identified, does not buy the "favouritism" argument, saying his is not a term loan as others' are.

"Our exposure to AI is a cash-credit facility and not a term loan as most others' are. Since it's fully secured, we have priced it at a cheaper rate too. Similar is the case with HDFC Bank and a few others. And so they too don't have any issue with this CDR proposal," the official said.

"Of course, I do understand their concerns, as if the plan goes through it will badly impact their credit worthiness among global lenders and rating agencies, since together they will have to set aside around Rs 10,000 crore as provisions with no guarantees and no assured dividends," he added.

When pointed out that AI is a Government-run entity as most of the airline's lenders are, he said, "banks have their own problems and what another PSU does not bother them."