Excerpts from ET article
- Antrix
Corporation was set up as the marketing arm of Isro in 1992
- company
hoped to promote commercial exploitation of space products,technical
consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by Isro
- A
major objective is to facilitate development of space-related industrial
capabilities in India
- Forge
Advisors,a US-based strategic consultancy, established an Indian company
called Devas Multimedia,with some former Isro scientists on board.
- Antrix
inked a memorandum of understanding with Forge for exploring opportunities
in digital multimedia services
- agreement
provided leasing of 90% of the space segment capacity on two satellites
for 12 years to Devas
- Antrixs
board approved the draft agreement between the two sides,and the agreement
was signed
Two Satellites
- Antrix
committed to build and launch two satellites
- These
two would have helped Devas deliver a range of services such as broadband
to remote areas
heres how a scam was discovered
- there
was no tendering for awarding the contract to Devas
- the
Cabinet was not informed that the two satellites were being built by Isro
for Devas
- satellites
were leased to Devas at throwaway prices
counter arguments
- Antrix-Isro,regularly
leases satellite capacity to private firms in the direct-to-home business
without tendering
- Devas
was bringing in new technology that had a high risk of failure
- estimated
loss of 2 lakh crore was based on comparing what Devas paid to 3G auction
prices
- it
was a nonsensical comparison because the 3G spectrum and its uses and
market are completely different from those of the S-band spectrum and the
related technology that Devas would have used
OUTCOME
- Image
of Antrix,which was supposed to be the government space technology arm
that would bring in private investment and cutting-edge technology and
market Indian space capabilities abroad,remains very badly damaged
Why more quotations were not called for from other players?
ReplyDeletebur devas never had the technology. should not ISRO have checked that before signing contract
ReplyDelete