CAG nails ISRO for favouring Tata Sky

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8

The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has censured the Department of Space (ISRO) for squandering over Rs 1,500 crore in leasing foreign satellite capacity while INSAT satellites were not launched or were intentionally kept idle.

The report on “Management of Satellite Capacity for DTH Service by Department of Space” for financial year 2013-14 tabled in Parliament recently is unprecedented in its severity and detail and also lists in detail how a particular DTH operator was given undue favours and eventually that operator refused to take up capacity launched specifically for them, GSAT-10 in the year 2012.

Besides this, the Department of Space (DoS) also did not lease it to any other user.

Inability of the DoS to realise its communication satellites and failure to utilise available satellite capacity led to competitive disadvantage to the DoS as against the foreign satellite system.

Out of total 76 Ku band transponders used by Indian DTH operators (July 2013), only 19 transponders (25% of total) belonged to Indian satellites. The remaining 57 transponders (75%) were on foreign satellites.

Tata Sky, which was using 12 transponders in the INSAT system, had also decided (July 2013) to migrate to foreign satellite arrangement as a permanent measure. As such, only 10% of the satellite capacity for the DTH service would be serviced by INSAT system.

The report said, “DoS launched GSAT 10 satellite in order to swap with capacity allocated to Tata Sky on INSAT 4A, which was functioning with reduced power. Tata Sky subsequently declined the proposal but the DoS did not allocate capacity on GSAT 10 to any other service provider apprehending litigation, as Tata Sky was given exclusive first right of refusal on Ku band capacity of INSAT 4A”.