Pawan Hans divestment fails to take-off, Centre moves to scrap sale

The government has decided to scrap the proposed plan to sell a majority 51 per cent stake in helicopter service provider Pawan Hans.

A senior government official told Business Today TV that the inter-ministerial group looking into the sale will quash the sale process shortly. “We are unlikely to look at divesting Pawan Hans anytime soon," the official added.

“The file for closing the process will be put up for approval to the group this week," the official said, adding that despite a competitive bidding process, the nature of the allegations against the bidder has disrupted the transparency of the process.

A group comprising the Finance Minister, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, and the Civil Aviation Minister has been looking into the Pawan Hans sale.

Star9 Mobility, a consortium led by Almas Global Opportunity Fund, had won the bid by quoting over Rs 211 crore for the government’s 51 per cent stake in the loss-making helicopter firm. State-run ONGC owns a 49 per cent stake in the firm, which has a fleet of 41 helicopters.

Recently, the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) passed an order against Almas Global for failing to honour its winning bid to acquire EMC Ltd, a Kolkata-based power system solutions company. Following this, the Centre had to halt the sale process and also issue a show cause notice to Star9 Mobility early this financial year.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the strategic disinvestment of Pawan Hans in October 2016. This was the fourth time since 2016 that the government has tried to sell Pawan Hans. As per the new public sector enterprises policy, the Centre can even look at closing down the company, should attempts to divest it fail.

This is the second public sector company after Central Electronics Ltd whose divestment has got stuck due to legal issues.