In a bizarre twist, state owned Pawan Hans has asked the Indian Government (ultimately its owner) to waive customs duty on the import of new helicopters by the company.  The company is arguing that lower purchase prices can be passed on to the passengers in a more reasonable ticket price, particularly in outlying areas like the North-East and Jammu & Kashmir.

The customs duty has always been in place, but in recent years had been exempted for non-scheduled air services.  Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee returned the tax to the statute books in his last Budget by removing the exemption.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com