MARO SCAM for UPA

[katharnak]

Bangalore: Even as the 2G spectrum scam continues to haunt the UPA Government, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has started probing an alleged S-band scam.
At the centre of controversy this time was the high-value and scarce S-band spectrum and the allegation was that a private company has been given the high-value bandwith at throway prices without competitive bidding by the Indian Space Research Organisation or the ISRO.

[b]The CAG was probing the ISRO and looked into an agreement between ISRO's commercial company Antrix and Devas Multimedia. The company is headed by Dr MG Chandrasekhar, former scientific secretary at ISRO.[/b]

The agreement was related to launching two satellites by ISRO for Devas. But apart from launching, the space agency has also gave Devas a larger hidden benefit - the use of 70 MHz of the scarce S-band spectrum over a 20-year period.

[b]The CAG estimated that not auctioning off the S-band spectrum caused the exchequer losses of at least Rs 2 lakh crore.[/b]

The CAG has refused to comment on the report. And the Opposition, showing no signs of fatigue over its JPC demand in the 2G scam, has targeted the Government once again.

As the Dept of Space, of which ISRO is a part, falls under the PMO, the Opposition focused its attack on the Prime Minister.

"[b]The loss has been estimated to be about Rs 2 lakh crore. Custom made two communication satellite and 10 transponders will be used for commercial purposes. Department of space comes directly under the PM. The BJP alleges that this whole affair is viscidiated by fraud. This is just not loss of revenue, this is a rare spectrum, that's a national asset. This agreement should be nullified, with immediate recovery[/b]," said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman.

The Hindu Business line report also suggested the deal allowed Devas the use of 10 transponders on two satellites. CNN-IBN was not allowed access to the Devas office in Bangalore and no one was willing to comment on camera.

Devas issued a statement saying they do not own any spectrum, and the services they provide will be based on satellite transponders leased from ISRO/Antrix, wherein both - the satellite and spectrum - belong to the space research organisation.

Just as a matter of comparison, when the Government auctioned just 15 Mhz of similar airwaves for 3G mobile services it earned more than Rs 67,000 crores.

As the S-band spectrum appeared as the symptom of latest headache, the UPA Government, following the media expose, said the reported deal on allocation of the scarce spectrum "is under examination".

ISRO in a statement on Monday evening said, "The agreement entered by Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO, and M/S Devas on January 28, 2005 is already under review by the Department of Space and a decision on the matter will be taken soon".