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
