The government hopes to call for fresh bids for the state-owned helicopter company Pawan Hans in the next two-three months, a senior government official indicated on Wednesday.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju had earlier said that only one effective bidder was left in the fray for picking up stake in Pawan Hans.

“There was some expression of interest, but I understand only one person has qualified and it is single tender. So we are wondering what to do…we will take a decision,” he said. When asked if the government will look at rebidding, he said all options were open. With only one bidder left, the government will find it difficult to go ahead with the divestment of the helicopter company.

Official sources said the fact that only one bidder is left in the fray has been officially communicated to the government which is confident that it will be able to call for re-bids in the next 2-3 months as the basic guidelines for divestment are ready and only some conditions and criteria need tweaking.

The Minister said the government has not yet taken a final decision on how much stake it will sell in Air India. Addressing the media at an interaction organised at the Indian Women’s Press Corp, he said, “No final decision has been taken, there are lots of suggestions. Some have suggested the government should retain some stake. But the final decision will come soon. We hope to complete the divestment process by the end of the year.”

Interestingly, Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, had said earlier this month that the government will offer 51 per cent or more stake in Air India. Downplaying any differences between the two Ministers, officials indicated that there is a laid down procedure after which things will be finalised.

“The Government is clear that it wants divestment to go through. It is likely that at least 51 per cent, if not more, will be divested,” a senior official said.

Raju felt that domestic airfares are not seeing a surge. He pointed out that last minute price surges in air tickets were seen only in 1.7 per cent cases where fares were found to be higher than normal.

“Putting a cap on them will result in pushing up fares for 98 per cent of the cases,” the Minister said adding that globally the aviation industry follows dynamic pricing.

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