The government cancels the sale of Pawan Hans

4 Jul 2023 , 10:55 AM

The winning bidder, Star9 Mobility, was excluded from the strategic disinvestment of helicopter service provider Pawan Hans on Monday because it was the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.

The government made the decision to sell Pawan Hans to Star9 Mobility, a partnership of Big Charter Pvt Ltd, Maharaja Aviation Pvt Ltd, and Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC, for Rs 211.14 crore in April of last year. The government and ONGC, which own 51% and 49% of Pawan Hans, jointly own the business.

The sale, however, was suspended in May 2022 after it became known that Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC, a member of the winning consortium, had received a negative ruling from the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal in another case involving a resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. As a result, the winning bidder did not get a letter of intent to purchase from the government.

According to an official who talked ET, the government’s FY24 disinvestment objective of Rs 51,000 crore is unlikely to be affected by the annulment because the strategic sale of the supplier of helicopter services would have brought in a very little sum. However, it highlights a number of difficulties the selloff push is having.

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