Govt panel to review Antrix-Devas deal; report to PM

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) Government has appointed ahigh-powered committee to review various aspects of thecontroversial deal ISRO''s commercial arm Antrix had struckwith a private company for lease of scarce S-band spectrum.

The two-member Committee, headed by B K Chaturvedi,Member, Planning Commission, will review the technical,commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the Agreementbetween Antrix and Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd, an officialstatement today said.

It will also review the adequacy of procedures andapproval processes followed by Antrix, ISRO and Department ofSpace, and suggest improvements and changes.

The Committee has been asked to submit itsrecommendations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh within onemonth. Singh is minister incharge of Department of Space.

Noted aerospace expert Roddam Narsimha, Member, SpaceCommission is the other member of the committee.

Media reports had stated that the Department of Space hadallocated 70 MHz of S-Band spectrum to Devas Multimedia for Rs1,000 crore. The actual value of this was estimated to bearound Rs 2 lakh crore, the reports claimed.

The Prime Minister''s Office had denied reports, saying nodecision has been taken and hence charges of revenue loss werewithout any basis.

ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan had admitted that detailsabout contract that gave Devas rights to 90 per cent usage oftransponders on two satellites, were not shared with the SpaceCommission or the Union Cabinet.