ISRO Chief made the following observation in the press Conference on 8 February.

In 2004 a decision was taken to go in for KU band  over S Band.On what grounds, no body is clear.

Suddenly ISRO finds S band has more potential.

Later it was decided to go in S band onan experimental basis.

Anrix , commercial arm of ISRO  entered into an agreement with Devas Multi Media,Bangalore, for S Band services in 2005 and renewed in 2008 December..The contract was signed within 34 days from the approval from the board of Antrix.

Deutsche Telecom gets a stake in Devas.

ISRO manufactured G6 and G6 A Satelittes for use.

In 2010, the under advice from  Department of Space,it was decided to terminate deal by July 2010.

Questions are-

If  monetary gains are not involved why should a Comapny invest?

If there is no guarantee of Business why would a Foreign investor be interested?

Foreign companies do pose a threat to national security  in telecommunication.

Why was this allowed?

Normally commercial products are manufactured and market tie up is arranged by the organisation.

In innovative projects , the partners have  a financial stake for equal weightage in contract in contracts of this nature.

Why was this not done in this case?

How is it that in this case you enter into  commercial agreement, you  manufacture with Public money ?

The process of termination is arduous and takes long, you say; don’t you have termination clause?

Kasturirangan says they are yet to find a reason for termination for nearly a year.

Then why terminate?

ISRO manufactures with out knowing the market after entering into contract , now plans to renege on the contract

Whhere does this leave the Devas, who are supposed to have earned nothing and a Foregn investor had come in for the love of Antrix.

Star war has  a plasible script.

Blowing of  the lid before it became operational,. Else the scam would have gone on.

Story:

Indian Space Research Organisation, under fire from all the quarters for the alleged S-band spectrum allocation scam, held a press conference late Tuesday evening clarifying their position. The press conference was chaired by Dr K Radhakrishnan, Secretary, Department of Space, and Dr K Kasturirangan, member of Planning Commission.

Emphasising that there was no question of revenue loss as clarified by the Prime Minister’s Office earlier, Dr K Radhakrishnan, Secretary, Department of Space said, “DoS put out a press note which clarifies that the agreements/contract between Antrix and Devas is already under review and a decision on the matter is likely to be taken soon.

“We have not yet terminated the Antrix-Devas contract. But, we began the process to annul the Antrix-Devas contract in July 2010. We have not allocated spectrum or satellite to either Devas or Antrix.”

ISRO wanted comprehensive review of the contracts in 2009. “The decision taken to annul the contract was due to strategic decisions. Terminating a contract is a very extensive and complex process. We followed the due process and even consulted the Law Ministry on this,” Dr Radhakrishnan, who is also the chairman of ISRO, added.

“We are not dilly-dallying. Internal review is going on and necessary action will be taken,” ISRO said defending itself. “ISRO is a reliable partner and is sought after by many countries across the world.”

PMO contradicts CAG report on S-band allocation

The Prime Minister’s Office today denied media reports alleging that the government had incurred losses in allocation of S-band spectrum, saying no decision has been taken on the issue and hence charges of revenue loss were without basis.

A statement from the PMO spokesperson stated that the office had seen media reports alleging loss of government revenue in a contract entered into by ANTRIX (the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation) and Devas Multimedia Private Limited due to lease of space segment capacity which would use S-Band spectrum.

“The CAG’s office and Department of Space have already issued statements stating the factual position on the matter. It is further clarified that no decision has been taken by the government to allocate space segment using S-Band spectrum to ANTRIX or Devas. Hence, the question of revenue loss does not arise and any such reports are without basis in fact,” the PMO statement said.

Media reports had stated that the Department of Space, which comes directly under the Prime Minister, had allocated 70 MHz of S-Band spectrum to Devas Multimedia for Rs 1,000 crore. The actual value of this was estimated to be around Rs 2 lakh crore, the reports claimed.

The Opposition had demanded a clarification from the Prime Minister on the issue and immediate recovery of the lost revenue along with a thorough inquiry into the matter.

BJP had alleged that the allocation was done quietly and without bringing the issue into the public domain

The space department said the government had already put in motion the process of cancelling the agreement between Antrix and the Devas because it had not explicitly mentioned the end-use terms.

Addressing media persons here, Secretary (Space) K. Radhakrishnan and Planning Commission member K. Kasturirangan said that a decision had been taken to annul the agreement.

Radhakrishnan said that the agreement, which had been approved by the Antrix Corporation board in 2005, entailed the launch of two satellites. “In December 2009, the Department of Space decided to review the Antrix-Devas agreement and see how to meet the emerging strategic requirements of the country,” he said.

He said that the review process was carried out and the matter was subsequently taken up with the Space Commission. He said that the agreement did not explicitly mention that 90 percent of the capacity of the two satellites will be given to the contracting party and “the remaining will be used for our own purposes.”

Devas-Antrix deal was cancelled to protect ‘highest echelons’ of UPA II govt: Former ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair

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