This is clearly a crunch week for many sectors. And bailouts of one kind or the other are the flavour of the season.
But money, money, money is the plea everywhere. Tata Motors and Kingfisher Airlines also have one thing in common: both relied on cash from the State Bank of India to prop up their ailing coffers. SBI provided the master guarantee as Tata raised Rs 4,200 crore barely in time to pay off some of the Rs 14,313 crore debt it had acquired when it bought Jaguar and Land Rover.
Meanwhile Mallya, whose airline is desperately seeking the elusive 'good times', used SBI and a clutch of other public sector banks to raise the much-needed Rs 2,000 crore to keep it in the air.
But the RBI is clearly not amused. Although it has allowed the Tata deal to go through, it has expressed its disapproval in a circular issued to the banks.
Apparently, banks cannot take direct exposure to companies that offer bonds, which is clearly what SBI has done in the case of Tata Motors. In which case, the Tata loan may well be the last such outing for a public sector bank. Thankfully, say Air India's supporters, all they need is a nod from the Cabinet, rather than any okay from any Central Bank.
