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The Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has asked the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to streamline the pricing of its remote sensing data products to its global customers as the prices of high resolution satellite data in the global market were six times more than the price of comparable Indian remote sensing (ORS) products.
In a performance audit of the activities of the NRSC released recently, the CAG said Indian remote sensing data products are sold to Indian companies (including those in SAARC countries) directly by it.
For international customers, NRSC sells data products through Antrix Corporation Ltd (ACL) at 2.5 times the Indian price which includes Antrix's agency commission of 100 per cent. NRSC also procures foreign satellite data directly from RADARSAT, IKONOS, and QUICKBIRD on demand.
Stating that there was scope for enhancing the revenue from sale of data products to international customers by Rs 47.49 crore, the CAG contended that it has drawn the comparison only on the basis of prices of similar and comparable high resolution (black and white) data.
Hence, it said, there is a need to streamline pricing of IRS data products for international customers which would also augment the revenue from remote sensing satellites.
CAG also suggested improvement in the efficiency in the financial management processes of NRSC to achieve more realistic budgeting and control so as to avoid locking up public funds. It said there were substantial unutilised balances available with NRSC under government projects, despite which it continued to obtain advances for special projects from Department of Space (DoS) and from other Government users.
Pointing out that budgeting of NRSC was not “realistic indicating lack of control on income and expenditure and poor monitoring of projects”, CAG also found there was a reduction of revenue/loss of interest due to irregular fixation/delayed fixation of agency commission payable to Antrix in the sale of satellite data.
It deplored the inadequate internal control and internal audit and said these must be strengthened.
It further asked NRSC, the sole civilian provider of aerial surveys, to beef up its efforts in improving operational efficiency of aircraft by suitably addressing the causes of delays, partly due to non-availability of pilots and technical snags in the aircraft.
It also recommended that NRSC/DoS must take proactive steps to enhance usage of data products by private enterprises in India.
The audit revealed that performance of three out of the seven remote sensing satellites was below their maximum capacity in terms of the number of remote sensing satellite data captured by them. The revenue realised from seven satellites in operation was not up to the desired level, it said adding that the satellites were planned without adequate thematic data need assessment.
It also faulted the NRSC for its inadequate effort in customising the data according to the needs of private users and also in exploring the possibility of widening the customer base.
The CAG commended the NRSC in recognising and promptly addressing the significant issues highlighted in its report and hoped that the organisation would take appropriate actions to address these “significant deficiencies”.
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