M A I N   N E W S

PMO, ISRO deny S-band Spectrum loss
Faraz Ahmad
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 8
Reeling under fresh ammunition of corruption charges in the reported allocation of space segment S-band Spectrum to a private multi-media company, the government undertook a major fire-fighting exercise today, with the Prime Minster’s Office denying it outrightly while ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan saying that the decision to terminate the contract was taken in July 2010 and the process was still on. The ISRO chief also reiterated, “There is no financial loss incurred in this.”

He was accompanied by former ISRO chief and now a member of the Planning Commission, K Kasturirangan, who too dismissed media reports as half-baked and ill-informed.

But by and large, Radhakrishnan virtually conceded most of what had been appearing in the media for the last two days. He said Antrix, the commercial wing of ISRO, entered into an agreement with Devas, a multi-media company with minor stakes of German company Deutsche Telekom, on January 28, 2005.

He, of course, claimed that the Department of Space reviewed the situation in December 2009, and in July 2010 the process of annulling the contract between Antrix and Devas had started. The contract would be annulled soon, said the ISRO chief, admitting that under the contract ISRO had agreed to build two satellites for the Devas, namely G-Sat 6 and G-Sat 6A.

He explained that S-band had become commercially available for use in India after the country began using the KU band for broadcasting in 2000. (Earlier Indian educational satellite transponders were transmitting their programmes on S-band). But in 2008, Radhakrishnan said it became clear that new requirements from the country’s national agencies would need S-band Spectrum. That is why in December 2009, the Department of Space commenced a thorough review of the Antrix-Devas contract

The ISRO chief explained, “When we have to terminate a contract, it is a complex process, that is what we are going through right now, so that the government does not incur damage or financial loss.” Kasturirangan chipped in to deny any wastage of time, saying that “no time was wasted, no question of dilly-dallying. This review only shows robustness of decision-making.”

Meanwhile, the PMO stated: “This office has seen reports alleging loss of government revenue in a contract entered into by Antrix and Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd due to lease of space segment capacity which would use S-band Spectrum. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s office and the 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.”

But the reports provided the opposition BJP sufficient ammunition to target the government and more specially Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Prime Minister of presiding over “an empire of corruption.” He demanded a clarification from the government, saying that the Prime Minister was directly responsible. “There is no (A) Raja, there is no (Suresh) Kalmadi. Did you approve the deal or not? The country is deeply agitated over this issue,” said Prasad, posing a public question at the Prime Minister.