Pawan Hans sale spiked after adverse court rulings surface
Mint had reported in February, and April, that the government found that a partner of the winning bidder consortium had adverse rulings issued by the National Company Law Tribunal’s Kolkata bench against it in another matter and that it had issued a show cause notice to the company concerned. Also, that the government intended to scrap the disinvestment process altogether.
The department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) said that the decision by the government was taken after ‘careful consideration’ of the response of the successful bidder to the show cause notice, and with the approval of alternative mechanism, empowered by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which comprised ministers of road transport and highways, finance, and civil aviation. An official said that the government may not seek fresh bids for the public sector enterprise.
The government is also against reconsidering strategic disinvestment of Pawan Hans, which has been attempted four times since 2016 without any success. The government may even recommend closure of the loss-making public sector unit, however, no clarifications were issued on both accounts in its statement.
The government said in its statement that it had not issued the letter of award to the winning bidder, Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd, a consortium of three companies Maharaja Aviation Pvt, Big Charter Pvt, led by majority owner Almas Global Opportunity Fund. The consortium had placed a winning bid of ₹211.14 crore for the PSU in 2021.
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