Govt may hand over Pawan Hans to top bidder by June, says Oppn ‘misinformed’ about disinvestment
India Today
The Centre is attempting to hand over its helicopter services provider Pawan Hans Ltd to Star9 Mobility by June, while batting aside the Opposition’s objections to the disinvestment.
Unfazed by the red flags raised by the Opposition, the Centre is working on a timeline that includes handing over its helicopter services provider Pawan Hans Limited to Star9 Mobility within the next 45 days in a big ticket disinvestment move.
Star9 Mobility, a special purpose vehicle of a consortium of three companies -- Big Charter, Maharaja Aviation and Almas Global Opportunity Fund -- had emerged as the successful bidder by pitching 211.14 crore for the government’s 51% stake, against the reserve price of 199.92 crore. The government had pegged the firm’s total value at 414 crore. ONGC, eyeing an earning of 202.86 crore, had offered its entire shareholding to the successful bidder on the same terms and price as the government. Next, the successful bidder has to inform whether it wants to pick the ONGC share.
Apart from Star9 Mobility, the two other bids were way below the reserve price, at 181.05 crore and 153.15 crore.
Once the letter of award is handed over and all due processes are completed, Star9 Mobility will gain control of a fleet of 42 helicopters, 41 of which are owned by Pawan Hans Ltd. They have an average operational life of over 20 years.
The Centre on Friday said that the opposition’s charges that due process was not followed in the sale of government’s 51% stake in Pawan Hans Ltd, and that it did not explore merging the firm with ONGC before handing it over to a just six month old consortium, were misinformed.
READ | Why India is likely to miss its divestment target
Top sources in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) refuted two key Opposition charges about the deal. First was about the claim that the successful entity had a net worth of 1 lakh against the stipulated 300-crore net worth. The second charge was that the consortium was set up as late as October 2021, due to which they could not have submitted the mandatory audited financial statements for one year.
