A delegation of Pawan Hans employees met officials in the Prime Minister's Office here today and expressed its concern over the Centre's decision to offload its entire 51 per cent stake in the aviation entity.
During the meeting, the delegation urged the government to reconsider its decision of strategic sale of its shares in profit-making Pawan Hans, sources said.
The delegation also suggested to the government that ONGC could be allowed to extend its management control over Pawan Hans which will increase the valuation of the helicopter service operator by two to three times.
Pawan Hans is a 51:49 joint venture between the central government and ONGC. It has more than 900 employees, with half of them being on permanent rolls.
The government has already announced its plans to sell its stake in the firm and transfer the management control of the helicopter service operator.
"The proposal of the NITI Aayog (to sell the government's entire 51 per cent stake) is unfortunate and far from the ground reality and should therefore be re-considered," Pawan Hans Employees' Union said.
The union has questioned NITI Aayog's proposal to include Pawan Hans in the list of sick PSUs for strategic sale.
The union has also cautioned against the privatisation of Pawan Hans and said that the move would result in a huge loss to the government apart from increasing the operating cost of oil and gas companies due to high rental charges of helicopters.
Pawan Hans earned an operating profit of Rs 61.6 crore in the last financial year. Recently, it paid a total dividend of Rs 10.82 crore to the government and ONGC.
It has also paid a dividend of Rs 235 crore to the government and ONGC till date, according to the employees' union.
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