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Devas Multimedia, currently in the eye of the S-band spectrum storm, on Thursday upped the ante to say it had a “legally binding agreement with (ISRO arm) Antrix Corporation,” and now awaited “the delivery of the contracted space segment capacity”.
It had met its part of the agreement of January 28, 2005 and the delivery of the satellite capacity (on G-SAT-6) was delayed by over two years, a statement citing Mr Ramachandran Viswanathan, President and CEO of Devas, said.
“Devas proceeded with the project after required consents and approvals were obtained within the Government, culminating with Space Commission and Union Cabinet, and the same were confirmed to us by Antrix in February 2006,” it said.
The Bangalore company and its three investors had made investments in the company and technology; it had got appropriate Government approvals for its business operations, besides FDI and FIPB approvals, it said.
A query seeking details of the financial investments made by the promoters was yet to be replied till Thursday night.
“Devas has fulfilled all of its obligations in respect of the Agreement over the past six years and now awaits the delivery of the contracted space segment capacity, which is more than two years delayed as per the Agreement. Devas has secured appropriate approvals from the Government related to conducting its business. All foreign direct investment into Devas had also been obtained with due FIPB approvals and in compliance with government regulations.
“Devas, its investors – Deutsche Telekom, Columbia Capital, Telcom Ventures – and its partners have invested significant time, capital and resources in developing an innovative, novel, integrated satellite system” for Indian users and Government agencies.
The current Chairman, Dr M.G. Chandrasekhar, and Chief Technology Officer, Mr D. Venugopal, who held senior positions with ISRO, left that organisation in 1997 and 1998 respectively; their affiliation to Devas came much after they left the space agency and in compliance with Government rules.
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