Pawan Hans stake sale: Govt extends EoI deadline by a week; seeks buyer for third time in 16 months

Mumbai: The government has extended the deadline for submission of expression of interest (EoI) for Pawan Hans stake sale by a week, a source said on Wednesday. The deadline is to expire on Thursday. The government holds 51 percent stake in Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL), which has a fleet of 43 helicopters. The remaining 49 percent is with oil and gas behemoth ONGC. [caption id=“attachment_4425689” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of a Pawan Hans helicopter. Reuters[/caption] This is the second time the date has been extended since the government came out with the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for strategic disinvestment in its chopper services providing entity Pawan Hans Ltd in July. “The date for submission of EoI for stake sale in Pawan Hans has been extended by a week now from the earlier deadline of 12 September,” the source told PTI. The government had on 11 July issued fresh bid document for strategic disinvestment on PHL with 22 August as the last date of submission for EoI and intimation to a short-listed bidder in September. However, it announced the extension in date to 12 September, and timelines for all other subsequent activities were also changed accordingly. The government has appointed SBICap as its advisor to advise and manage the strategic disinvestment of PHL. This is the third time in last 16 months, the government has sought to attract a buyer for Pawan Hans, which is estimated to have posted the loss to the tune of Rs 72.42 crore in the previous fiscal.