Row will give bad name to Isro, says Karnik
The controversy over the Devas-Antrix Isro agreement is bound to give India’s premier space agency a bad name, especially when its success story remains unmatched by any space agency across the world.
The achievement is all the more remarkable, Kiran Karnik, former president of NASSCOM, pointed out in an open letter to the PMO, because it took place within a government system.
Mr Karnik believes that the agreement with Devas is a continuation of a long history of Isro-industry partnerships which occur around the world. In the case of Bengaluru-based Devas Multimedia Ltd, the company brought to the table not only the technical, market and managerial expertise to implement this, but the risk capital, Mr Karnik pointed out.
He asked if the Cabinet approval was not sought for the deal, as some have pointed out, the question is whether it was at all required and whether past transponder deals with private parties had gone through any such specific Cabinet approvals?
Mr Karnik believes that the method of leasing transponders at a fixed price is the general practise and “there is no history of auctions by Isro or by any global space agency”.
Mr Karnik believes there is a vast differences in satellite and terrestrial uses of spectrum. Just because some of those involved in Devas were former Isro employees, there have been insinuations about a “sweetheart deal” overlooking Isro’s policy to encourage experts to become entrepreneurs and also suppliers to Isro.
The former president of NASSCOM believed it “was for Isro authorities and others in government to clarify that there had been no corruption or wrongdoing at any stage. But instead of an unambiguous statement, based on facts, there was a knee-jerk reaction. Cancelling the deal which amounted to implying there was some corruption in the deal.”
Post new comment