A Bell 412 EP helicopter, bought during former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s tenure way back in 2006, has still not found any takers and remains grounded at the Chennai airport, awaiting a buyer.
The State Trading Corporation (STC), a Government of India enterprise, has been tasked with auctioning the 11-seater.
A few months ago, an effort to auction it did not receive any favourable response.
Now, the STC has floated the tender yet again to dispose of the helicopter. A senior official entrusted with the task of supervising the proposed sale said advertisements had been issued by the government not only in local newspapers but also in journals specialising in aviation. Any individual or institution is free to take part in the auction, the official said.
According to the STC, the chopper, parked at the Old Kingfisher Airlines Hangar at Chennai airport, had flown less than 2,500 flying hours and was last used in December 2018.
“It was used a few times after it was purchased. But since then, it has just been lying unused. We thought they would manage to sell it during election time this year, but that didn’t happen. The sooner they sell it, the better,” a source said.
Initially, the STC mentioned a base price of ₹35 crore for the chopper in the first tender, but the price was removed in the latest tender. Since it couldn’t be sold the first time around, officials wanted to see if more people would be interested when that price is taken off, sources said.
Four-five years ago, the government sold its Cessna aircraft to a private firm through an auction, the official added.
