Govt. puts Pawan Hans sale on hold over NCLT order against winning consortium member

Almas Global reportedly failed to make payments to creditors of a company under an approved resolution plan

The government has put on hold the sale of Pawan Hans as it is legally examining an NCLT order against Almas Global, which is the biggest shareholder in the winning consortium, an official said on Monday.

Last month, the government selected Star9 Mobility Pvt. Ltd., a consortium of Big Charter Private Ltd., Maharaja Aviation Private Ltd. and Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC, as the winning bidder for Pawan Hans.

While Big Charter and Maharaja Aviation own 26% and 25%, respectively, in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Star9 Mobility Pvt. Ltd., Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC holds 49%.

The official said the letter of award to the winning consortium has not been issued as legal views are being taken.

"We will do a legal examination of the NCLT order before proceeding further. Letter of Award has not been issued," the official said.  The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had last month passed an order reportedly after Almas Global failed to make payments to creditors of a Kolkata-based company under an approved resolution plan.

This is the second strategic disinvestment that has run into rough weather. Earlier, the sale of Central Electronics Ltd. (CEL) too was stalled on account of certain allegations against the winning bidder.

The government had in November last year approved the highest price bid of ₹210 crore by Delhi-based Nandal Finance and Leasing Pvt. Ltd. for the sale of 100% equity shareholding of the government in CEL - a CPSE under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).