Insinuations about the due process not being followed for the proposed sale of the government’s 51% stake in loss-making air transport operator Pawan Hans Limited are misinformed and misplaced, senior Finance Ministry officials asserted on Friday. They said the Centre would likely issue the letter of award to the winning consortium as early as next week.
Last Friday, a ministerial panel empowered by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to decide on disinvestment transaction details had approved the stake sale and transfer of management control in Pawan Hans to Star9 Mobility Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle set up by a consortium of bidders.
“One of the distorted arguments we have heard is that the successful entity has a net worth of ₹1 lakh instead of the ₹300-crore net worth we had stipulated, and was set up only in October 2021 so there was no way they could have submitted one year’s audited financial statements as required. This is a misinterpretation of facts at best,” a senior official in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said.
