<p>A powerful panel of parliamentarians has demanded an inquiry against the Department of Space for favouring private companies like Tata Sky in allocating transponders in INSAT and GSAT satellites.<br /><br />Even though the irregularities committed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) were first red-flagged by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) a year ago, the space agency has not yet launched any internal probe, as sought by the PAC.<br /><br />The activities against which the probe was sought took place more than 12 years ago when direct-to-home (DTH) satellite services were brought to India by several public and private broadcasters, including Doordarshan, Tata Sky, Dish TV and Sun TV.<br /><br />“While Tata Sky was fifth in the order of preference of satellite capacity allocation, it was granted precedence to INSAT-4A and given exclusive rights in December 2005, superseding Doordarshan. We are dismayed to note that the department has not initiated any action as yet,” the PAC, headed by Congress leader K V Thomas, said in its latest report, which was tabled in Parliament earlier this month.<br /><br />Tata Sky was given the exclusive rights on Ku-band transponders, located at an orbital slot of 83 degrees east, for 10 years. “Tata Sky had a very advantageous position over other DTH service providers as it had the exclusive first right of refusal for using Ku-band transponders. Due to this, Ku-band transponders of GSAT-10 could not be allocated to any other DTH service provider. They remained idle, causing an annual loss of Rs 60 crore,” said the PAC report.<br /><br />The Comptroller and Auditor General had also pointed out how the space department gave preferential treatment to Tata Sky.<br /><br />In its 2016 report, the PAC had asked for an internal investigation and action within three months.The Isro’s reply, which came a year later, only said that “a committee is being constituted” to look into the issue. It , however, did not give the PAC its reasons for not launching the inquiry.<br /><br />The 22-member PAC that reviews government expenditures found that the Isro had violated several other norms in managing the satellite transponders. Several instances of wasteful expenditure were also found.<br /><br />Flaws had also been found in the lease agreements that the Indian DTH operators signed with the Isro. While the pacts with the Indian operators don’t have a price revision clause, Isro agreed to a 5-33% price revision when it signed similar agreements with foreign satellites on behalf of Indian vendors. This has already resulted in a loss of Rs 36 crore.<br /><br />The PAC wanted a probe on such flawed agreements. But a year later, there is no action from the Isro on this front either.<br /></p>
<p>A powerful panel of parliamentarians has demanded an inquiry against the Department of Space for favouring private companies like Tata Sky in allocating transponders in INSAT and GSAT satellites.<br /><br />Even though the irregularities committed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) were first red-flagged by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) a year ago, the space agency has not yet launched any internal probe, as sought by the PAC.<br /><br />The activities against which the probe was sought took place more than 12 years ago when direct-to-home (DTH) satellite services were brought to India by several public and private broadcasters, including Doordarshan, Tata Sky, Dish TV and Sun TV.<br /><br />“While Tata Sky was fifth in the order of preference of satellite capacity allocation, it was granted precedence to INSAT-4A and given exclusive rights in December 2005, superseding Doordarshan. We are dismayed to note that the department has not initiated any action as yet,” the PAC, headed by Congress leader K V Thomas, said in its latest report, which was tabled in Parliament earlier this month.<br /><br />Tata Sky was given the exclusive rights on Ku-band transponders, located at an orbital slot of 83 degrees east, for 10 years. “Tata Sky had a very advantageous position over other DTH service providers as it had the exclusive first right of refusal for using Ku-band transponders. Due to this, Ku-band transponders of GSAT-10 could not be allocated to any other DTH service provider. They remained idle, causing an annual loss of Rs 60 crore,” said the PAC report.<br /><br />The Comptroller and Auditor General had also pointed out how the space department gave preferential treatment to Tata Sky.<br /><br />In its 2016 report, the PAC had asked for an internal investigation and action within three months.The Isro’s reply, which came a year later, only said that “a committee is being constituted” to look into the issue. It , however, did not give the PAC its reasons for not launching the inquiry.<br /><br />The 22-member PAC that reviews government expenditures found that the Isro had violated several other norms in managing the satellite transponders. Several instances of wasteful expenditure were also found.<br /><br />Flaws had also been found in the lease agreements that the Indian DTH operators signed with the Isro. While the pacts with the Indian operators don’t have a price revision clause, Isro agreed to a 5-33% price revision when it signed similar agreements with foreign satellites on behalf of Indian vendors. This has already resulted in a loss of Rs 36 crore.<br /><br />The PAC wanted a probe on such flawed agreements. But a year later, there is no action from the Isro on this front either.<br /></p>
