The Centre has put on hold the sale of loss-making helicopter service provider Pawan Hans as it is legally examining an National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order against Almas Global, which is part of the winning consortium.
The government will do a legal examination of the NCLT order before proceeding further with the sale. A letter of award is yet to be issued.
The decision comes after concerns were raised over one of the majority stakeholders of Star9 Mobility.
In April, the Centre selected M/s Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd, a consortium of M/s Big Charter Private Limited, M/s Maharaja Aviation Private Limited and M/s Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC, as the winning bidder for Pawan Hans to buy the government’s 51% stake in the loss-making helicopter service provider.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), that held the remaining 49% had also offered its entire shareholding to the winning bidder at the same price per share, according to the terms agreed by the Centre.
Star9 Mobility had quoted ₹211.14 crore for Pawan Hans, which was above the Reserve Price of ₹199.92 crore fixed by the government on the basis of valuation carried out by the transaction adviser and asset valuer.
The NCLT had in April passed an order reportedly after Almas Global failed to make payments to creditors of a Kolkata-based firm under an approved resolution plan.
