New Delhi, January 9: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman and Managing Director R Madhvan today met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and three services chief in Parliament. Army chief General Bipin Rawat, Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba arrived in the parliament complex in the afternoon. According to reports, the meeting was regarding the financial crisis faced by the public sector unit. Rahul Gandhi Takes Swipe at Narendra Modi Over Financial Crisis in HAL; Says 'PM Ignored Nation's Interest For Benefiting His Friend'.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of the Rafale Controversy. The opposition is accusing the Narendra Modi led central government of corruption in the deal. The Congress along with other opposition parties also questioned the offset contract given to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited in place of HAL.

Recently, reports, also surfaced the HAL is facing the financial crisis, and the company has taken a loan of about Rs 1,000 crore to pay salaries of its employees. As per reports, till March the total outstanding dues of the HAL from the armed forces could reach Rs 20,000 crore. HAL’s chairman while speaking to The Times of India said that the public sector unit has negative cash in hand, so the firm opted for an overdraft of Rs 1,000.

On January 4, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during a discussion on Rafale deal in Lok Sabha claimed that the HAL is awaiting formalisation of orders upto Rs 1 lakh crore. Sitharaman in Lok Sabha told that orders worth Rs one lakh crore including Rs 50,000 crore order for procuring 83 Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and 15 combat helicopters worth Rs 3,000 are in the pipeline.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 09, 2019 05:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).