India's aviation regulator asked Kingfisher Airlines to explain why it has cancelled a large number of flights since Saturday, while the government again ruled out providing any aid to the loss-making carrier, Reuters reported. Kingfisher has cancelled 32 out of the 240 flights that it operates each day, the airlines said on Saturday, adding that it expected to return to full service within days.

Kingfisher Airlines said it is in talks with Hong Kong-based SC Lowy and some other investors to raise funds, as the financially beleaguered airline expedites steps to stay afloat. The discussions come at a time when Kingfisher, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, is struggling with depleting cash flow, high debt and unpaid bills. The financial troubles have forced the airline to cut dozens of flights, ground several planes, stop its low-fare operations and seek government help to sustain its business.

Lenders to Air India on Thursday were unable to reach a decision on the ailing national carrier's $4 billion debt restructuring, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, further delaying the airline's long-pending proposal, Reuters reported. Last week, the lenders -- a consortium of 13 banks led by State Bank of India -- deferred Air India's debt restructuring proposal, seeking a revision as they were reluctant to accept equity in the airline. One of the options discussed by the banks on Thursday was to convert the airline's debt into a government-backed bond, the sources said.

A debt restructuring plan for troubled national carrier Air India has been rejected by the airline's lenders, the Business Standard newspaper reported on Wednesday, as bankers refused to take a stake in the loss-making airline. A consortium of banks with exposure to state-owned Air India, rejected a proposal to convert 60 percent of the carrier's $4 billion debt into long-term loans and accept the balance in equity, the report said citing unnamed sources.

Lenders, led by State Bank of India, have decided to seek a review of the debt restructuring plan for National Aviation Company of India (Nacil) that was pushed by the government citing their inability to take a large haircut, The Times of India reported. The move, which comes six weeks after banks agreed to a restructuring of nearly Rs 21,000 crore of Nacil debt, will come as a blow to the government's efforts to get the beleaguered national carrier back on track.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle manufacturer, is interested in buying at least parts of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile, two people familiar with the situation said, Bloomberg reported. Mahindra, based in Mumbai, is in the process of trying to set up meetings with the two court-appointed administrators who are overseeing Saab’s bankruptcy to possibly buy parts of the carmaker or the whole company, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans are private.

India failed to adopt its long-awaited anticorruption legislation, a major embarrassment to the government that had promised to address an issue that has scared away foreign investors and brought waves of protesters into the streets, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had pledged to pass a bill to create a federal corruption watchdog by the end of 2011 after public protests this summer over pervasive graft destabilized the government.

Bharati Shipyard Ltd. said its board has approved restructuring INR28.54 billion ($538.2 million) of its INR32.50 billion debt, a move that will help it cut interest costs, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The company has been struggling with mounting debt on its books after acquiring a majority stake in Great Offshore Ltd. two years ago, as a slowdown in Europe and lower demand in India also impacted its business.

India's lower house of Parliament passed a historic anticorruption bill yesterday, 42 years after one was first demanded, regaining the initiative in a months-long national debate over the pervasiveness of graft, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The bill will have to be passed by the upper house to become law, but it upsets the dynamics of a bitter battle that has played out in the past year between the government and anticorruption activist Anna Hazare.

The Japanese and Indian governments agreed Wednesday to set up a three-year, $15 billion bilateral-currency swap line in an effort to buttress their economies against Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The new swap line - five times that of the previous arrangement that expired in early summer - follows a Japan-South Korea deal in October to boost their bilateral swap pact to $70 billion from $13 billion. The moves signal spreading doubts among Asian economic powerhouses about the ability of European leaders to fix their problems anytime soon.