Congress raises questions over Pawan Hans disinvestment, asks why merger with ONGC not explored
The Hindu
The Finance Ministry on Friday said Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd will buy the government's 51% stake in helicopter services provider Pawan Hans Ltd
The Congress on Sunday raised questions over the deal to sale Centre's 51% stake in helicopter services provider Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL), asking why the government did not explore merging the firm with ONGC instead of deciding to hand it over to a consortium that is just six-months-old.
The Finance Ministry on Friday said Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd will buy the government's 51% stake in helicopter services provider Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL), along with the transfer of management control, for ₹211.14 crore.
The reserve price for the strategic sale, which comes after three unsuccessful attempts, was fixed at ₹199.92 crore based on the valuation carried out by the transaction adviser and asset valuer.
Attacking the government over the decision, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said that in the series of miscalculated and injudicious disinvestment decisions to justify their financial policies, "they are committing a series of blunders".
The reserve price for the sale of this 51% majority stake was fixed at ₹199.92 crores and the other two bidders that participated made bids of ₹181.05 crore and ₹153.15 crore respectively, Mr. Vallabh pointed out.
Mr. Vallabh said while this may seem like a normal disinvestment, there are several things that raise eyebrows such as the the Star9 Mobility Private Ltd, a consortium of Big Charter Private Limited, Maharaja Aviation Private Limited and Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC, set-up just six months ago on October 29, 2021.
Star9 Mobility Private Ltd doesn't have any helicopters of its own while Big Charter Private Limited has just 3 helicopters in its fleet, he said. Also, Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC is set up under the jurisdiction of Cayman Islands and has no correlation or experience in this sector, he added.
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