The recent drama played out at the distressed budget carrier SpiceJet has a tinge of political hue to it. After its promoter Kalanithi Maran helplessly threw up his hands and refused any more funding, a white knight jumps in to save the airline from sinking.

And who is he? It's Ajay Singh, former part-owner of SpiceJet, who was an aggressive BJP campaigner in the last Lok Sabha elections."Government is supporting us. We are closely associated with the present government and the airline (SpiceJet) will benefit from this. Besides, it is mostly a commercial deal for him (Ajay Singh)," said a close associate of Singh, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Surely, the government has eased the way for Singh by announcing measures that can be taken to bring the airline back on the runway for a smooth take-off. These steps include extending its bookings till March 31, restoring credit lines offered by oil marketing companies (OMCs) and airports and requesting banks to lend Rs 600 crore to the airline.

Singh, who has dabbled in many ventures after divesting stake in SpiceJet, is said to be reportedly heading the rescue plan. In the meantime, the serial entrepreneur, who is an IIT (Delhi) graduate and has done his MBA at Cornell University in the US, has swung into action and already roped in investors to bring in equity.

"He (Singh) is trying to get an overseas private equity firm to invest in the airline. The due diligence for it is currently on and should be completed in 4-6 weeks. Right now, he is only trying to stop its (airline's) closure by putting money from his pocket but he is also contemplating on taking over the company," said a source, who did not want to be named.

With Spicejet's stock having hit rock bottom –on Friday, it closed at Rs 15.80 after slipping to around Rs 13 earlier this week – Singh would snap the deal at an attractive price. Maran acquired 37.7% stake in 2010 at Rs 48 per share and had made the mandatory open offer to acquire another 20% stake at Rs 58 per share.

According to industry insiders, it is unlikely that UK's Bhupendra Kansagra would join hands with Singh this time round. "He will form a consortium with private equity firms and financial institutional investors. This time he is serious and is in the game for the long run," said a source.

Undoubtedly, Singh, who successfully turned around the ailing ModiLuft after taking it over from industrialist S K Modi and renaming it as SpiceJet Ltd, has a tough task at hand. Apart from the huge losses that have piled up at SpiceJet over the last few years, he will also have to grapple with the airline's high debts and liabilities.

The no-frill airline has a long term borrowing of Rs 1,236.2 crore, of which Rs 1,221.9 crore is external commercial borrowing (ECB) from Export Development, Canada, and Rs 14.3 crore is term loans from banks.

The ECB is provided against the acquisition of 15 Bombardier Q-400 aircraft at an average interest cost of between 2.4% and 4.1% while the average cost of interest on term loan is between 12.25% and 12.86%.

"If Singh decides to have a fleet of one type of aircraft and decides to retire the Q-400s, he will have to settle the loan ECB given against its acquisition," said Bangalore-based airline consultant Pankaj Pandit

SpiceJet's current liabilities are Rs 2,562 crore and trade payables are Rs 1,040.3 crore. Its other liabilities stand at Rs 1,236 crore. So, Singh, who sold his stake in SpiceJet when it had cash close to Rs 800 crore, is returning to airline burdened with huge liabilities.