Insider Spectrum Lease Deal Lands ISRO in Hot Water

ISRO’s 3G deal makes waves for wrong reasons
The Economic Times

The law ministry has told the department of space, or DoS, that it could annul a contract under which 60 MHz of airwaves was leased to a private company five years ago. The DoS had asked the government’s legal arm for its views on an obscure deal between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Devas Multimedia, in which the firm paid Rs 600 crore for the airwaves.

The company, owned by former ISRO official MG Chandrasekhar, sold a stake to a group of foreign investors, including Deutsche Telekom and private equity firm Columbia Capital, after the frequency spectrum was allotted.

The law ministry has described the contract as ‘illegal’, and said the government should take back the spectrum citing ‘national interest’, a top government official who has seen the written opinion, told ET.

The law ministry’s views were sought after Cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar wrote to DoS, asking if the deal could be scrapped.

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