2 weeks ago
Ex-ISRO official says US tech curbs drove Antrix-Devas secrecy
Long ago, in 2005, India's space agency ISRO made a deal with a company called Devas.
The deal was about leasing satellites that could send videos and internet-like services to phones and cars in India.
But India did not have this special technology.
Only a few countries had it, and one of them was the United States.
India could not easily ask the US government for the technology because of strict rules.
So an official named S K Das says they worked through a US company to get it secretly.
Later, the Indian government cancelled the deal and accused the people involved of corruption.
The CBI, India's police agency, said the deal lost about 578 crore rupees, and some officials are now on trial.
Meanwhile, a court in America recently said Devas should be paid over 1.2 billion dollars.
Different courts and countries do not agree about what really happened.
Former Department of Space additional secretary S K Das told the CBI that secrecy around the 2005 Antrix-Devas satellite deal was needed due to US technology control regimes imposed on India.
The deal leased two communication satellites to Devas Multimedia for 12 years at a cost of Rs 167 crore to provide satellite-based video, multimedia and information services in India.
Das said ISRO sought a US-based service provider, Forge Advisors LLC, to access hybrid digital communication technology without going to the US government.
The CBI's August 2016 chargesheet alleged the deal caused a loss of about Rs 578 crore, and a 2019 additional chargesheet said no approved technology existed in January 2005.
On August 12, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a $565.2 million award, now over $1.2 billion with interest, to Devas over the failed deal.
- Who
- S K Das, a former additional secretary in the Department of Space and an accused in the CBI case, along with other former ISRO, Antrix and Devas officials.
- What
- Das told the CBI that secrecy around the Antrix-Devas satellite deal was driven by US technology control regimes; the deal remains the subject of a corruption trial and international arbitration.
- Where
- India, with related legal proceedings in Bengaluru, Geneva, and the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
- When
- The deal was signed in 2005; the US appeals court ruling was delivered on August 12, 2026.
- Why
- ISRO needed hybrid digital communication technology restricted by US-imposed technology control regimes, so it sought a US service provider to obtain it secretly.
Former ISRO and Devas officials
CBI and government critics
Secrecy of the deal
Former ISRO and Devas officials
Das said the secrecy was necessary because the technology was banned under US technology control regimes, and not naming the user followed established practice in earlier notes to the Space Commission and Cabinet.
CBI and government critics
A special court said the Cabinet note wrongly recorded that ISRO had several firm expressions of interest when only Devas was in the agreement, and critics labelled the arrangement a 'sweetheart deal'.
Technology claim
Former ISRO and Devas officials
ISRO needed the deal to bring video, multimedia and information services via satellite to mobile receivers across India, and only US technology was adaptable.
CBI and government critics
The CBI's additional chargesheet stated that no approved technology existed in January 2005 and that Devas intentionally made a false claim as part of a criminal conspiracy.
Financial terms
Former ISRO and Devas officials
Das defended the lease payments as 'reasonable' and said he recommended the proposal to the Minister for Finance.
CBI and government critics
The CBI alleged that officials abused their positions to cause undue gain and a loss of about Rs 578 crore through the deal.
Key facts
- Deal signed
- 2005
- Satellite lease
- Two communication satellites for 12 years at Rs 167 crore
- Annual lease rate
- US $9 million, rising to US $11.25 million when Devas made profits
- Alleged loss
- Approximately Rs 578 crore
- Deal annulled
- February 2014 by the UPA government
- US appeals court award
- $565.2 million, now over $1.2 billion with interest
- Earlier awards
- ICC: $1.2 billion (set aside by Delhi High Court in 2023); Deutsche Telekom: $101 million; Mauritius investors: $111 million
- Devas liquidation
- Ordered by NCLT in May 2021, upheld by the Supreme Court on January 17, 2022
Quotes
S K Das
Former additional secretary and finance member of the Department of Space, now accused in the Antrix‑Devas corruption case
“I was a member of the team that went to the US to find a service provider under the technology control regime imposed by the United States.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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