Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state government has floated a Request for Proposal to sell its crashed aircraft, SKA B200GT, VT-MPQ (Serial No. BY373), along with its 1,793 spare parts. It has set a reserve price of Rs 7 crore.
The state government had procured the aircraft for nearly Rs 65 crore, including taxes in 2020.
If the aircraft is sold at the reserve price, the state government will incur a loss of more than Rs 55 crore.
The state government recently decided to dispose of the aircraft. It was inducted into service in 2020 and remained operational for only about eight months before it crashed at Gwalior airport in May 2021.
The aircraft was manufactured by US-based Textron Aviation Inc. The government took time to decide about disposal of aircraft and its spare parts as the probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation continued for around two years after the crash.
The probe concluded that the aircraft crashed due to human error and not because of technical fault. Following the findings, the licences of pilot Majid Khan and co-pilot Shiv Jaiswal were suspended for one year.
After the DGCA's decision, the government started a departmental enquiry against both pilots, which is still underway. "The manufacturer informed the government that even if the aircraft was repaired, it would not be considered fit to fly VIPs.
Hence, the government decided to sell it," an aviation department official said wishing anonymity.
Aircraft logged 204 landings
The aircraft was manufactured in 2020 and completed 204 landings. The bidder quoting the highest financial bid will be declared the preferred bidder.
The successful bidder will have to execute the agreement within one month of issuance of the letter of acceptance by the government. The last date for submission of bids is August 17.
