A deep quagmire for Pawan Hans !

The government has scrubbed its plan to privatise Pawan Hans as of now. The way forward also looks unclear. An in-depth report.

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In a setback to the strategic disinvestment drive, the Indian government has decided not to proceed with privatisation of Pawan Hans due to questions raised on the integrity of the winning bidder. Even though the government followed an open and competitive bidding process for Pawan Hans, the nature of allegations against the winning bidder has forced the government's hand.

The privatisation of the entity was seen to be in the interest of employees as new investors would have infused more funds to turn around the helicopter transport business. As of March 2023, no decision has yet been taken on whether the government will restart the privatisation process of the company.

The government's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had earlier approved Star9 Mobility Private Limited's bid to buy the government's 51 percent stake in public sector helicopter service provider Pawan Hans Limited for Rs 211 crore on April 29, 2022. But several questions about the privatisation of the PSU remained unanswered and there are unsolved doubts about the identity of its new potential owner.

Star9 Mobility had won the bid by quoting Rs 211 crore for the government's 51 percent stake in the loss-making helicopter firm. On April 29, 2022, the empowered ministerial panel had approved the winning bid by Star9.

Star9 Mobility is a consortium of three different entities- Maharaja Aviation Private Limited, which owns 25 percent, Big Charter Private Limited (with 26 percent stake) and Almas Global Opportunity Fund with the remaining 49 percent. The consortium was supposed to acquire the remaining 49 percent of Pawan Hans, which belongs to the public sector energy giant ONGC, at the same price per share.