ISRO spectrum deal scrapped

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) The controversial S-Band spectrum
deal between ISRO's commercial arm Antrix and private firm
Devas Multimedia was scrapped on Thursday.
The decision to annul the deal was taken at a meeting of
the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by the Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the basis of a recommendation
from the Space Commission.
The annulment comes in the wake of a raging controversy
over the deal for handing over 70 Mhz of S-Band spectrum to
the private firm for Rs 1,000 crore on which the CAG has
already initiated action.
According to certain estimates, this deal may have
resulted in a loss of Rs two lakh crore to the exchequer.
After news reports about the possible revenue loss
appeared, the Government and ISRO said the project was already
under review and action has been initiated for termination of
the contract.
The Prime Minister said on Wednesday that the deal had
never been operationalised and rejected suggestions that his
office had held "backroom" talks with Devas after the Space
Commission's decision to scrap the deal.
He had said that if there has been delay in scrapping the
deal, this has been "only procedural".
Devas Multimedia had on Wednesday termed as "disturbing
and inappropriate" the government's "unilateral" decision to
terminate the agreement and threatened to take legal action.
It said the government had reached the decision "without
due investigative process and without following the principles
of natural justice". PTI SKU
PRI