NEW DELHI: The country's first integrated heliport set up by state-run Pawan Hans at an investment of around Rs 100 crore, has been kept out of the Miniratna PSU's disinvestment process, according to a senior official of the civil aviation ministry.
As part of the plan, the heliport at Rohini in North Delhi, which became functional early this year, will remain under the administrative control of the ministry while its operations and management will be handled by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the official said.
Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL) is a 51:49 joint venture between the civil aviation ministry and oil behemoth ONGC.
The profit-making aviation entity is currently under the sale process as the government has proposed to offload its entire 51 per cent holding in the company to private entities.
"The heliport at Rohini has been hived off from the disinvestment process of Pawan Hans," the official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
Operations and management of the facility, however, will be entrusted to the AAI, which runs and manages 125 airports across the country, the official added.
Spread over an area of 25 acres, the heliport consists of a terminal building, having a capacity of 150 passengers, four hangars with parking capacity for 16 helicopters and nine parking bays.
In addition, the facility also has a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit for the upkeep of Pawan Hans fleet as well as for third-party maintenance work.
The Rohini facility, which is the first of the four heliports planned by the government, provides all helicopter operational facilities and has been built to de-congest the busy Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.
Besides, the government also aimed at boosting regional air connectivity in northern India through regular passenger sorties and helicopter emergency medical services, among others.
The government has envisaged four heliports in four regions of the country in the new civil aviation policy announced last June.
However, the official did not comment on the fate of the remaining three facilities following the disinvestment process of PHL.
The government has already invited bids from private companies, including foreign entities to buy out its entire stake along with management control.
The chopper operator paid Rs 5.52 crore to the government as dividend after it reported a net profit of Rs 36.08 crore for the 2015-16 fiscal year.