ISRO's Antrix to pay Rs 4,432 crore damages to Devas: International tribunal

Sarkar

Contributor
Joined
1 Jun 2013
Messages
9,957
Reaction score
6,366
BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: In a jolt to ISRO's commercial arm, Antrix, an international tribunal has asked it to pay damages worth $ 672 million (Rs 4,432 crore) to city-based firm Devas Multimedia for "unlawfully" terminating a deal four years ago on grounds of national security.

The International Chamber of Commerce's(ICC) arbitration body International Court of Arbitration has ruled in our favour in the Antrix-Devas arbitration case and Antrix is liable to pay damages totalling $ 672 million to it, Devas said today.

"Devas Multimedia and its shareholders, including highly-regarded international investors, are pleased that the ICC Tribunal unanimously ruled in its favor and found that Antrix is liable for unlawfully terminating the Devas-Antrix Agreement in February 2011," Devas said in the statement.

The Tribunal awarded damages and pre-award interest totalling $ 672 million to Devas with post-award interest accruing at 18 per cent per annum on that sum until the award is fully paid, it added.

The Tribunal comprising Michael Pryles, V V Veeder Q.C, and Justice A S Anand gave the order in an unanimous decision.

It noted that Antrix had no legal justification for terminating the agreement and that Dr K R Radhakrishnan, who at the time of annulment, was Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO, Antrix and the Space Commission, could have prevented he Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) from approving the annulment.

The CCS had annulled the deal based on the recommendation of the Space Commission on the ground that it was not in the security interests of the country.

The UPA government's action had come months after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India came out with a report on 2G scam that had estimated a "presumptive loss" of Rs 1.76 lakh crore due to flawed spectrum allocation process.

Under the deal signed in 2005, Antrix was to provide 70 MHz of the scarce S-Band wavelength to Devas for its digital multimedia services by leasing 90 per cent of the transponders in ISRO's GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A satellites. Devas, in turn, was to pay Antrix a total of $ 300 million over 12 years.

The award will come up for hearing in the Delhi High Court which has to enforce it.

ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar when asked for his comments said, "Our legal team is looking into it."

"Devas is hopeful that Antrix will now live up to its legal obligations and pay the award so that this dispute that arose during the prior government can be brought to a swift close," the statement said.

"Devas is grateful that the ICC Tribunal unanimously ruled in our favor. With the ICC award having been issued, we hopefully can now move forward to concluding this dispute," Devas Multimedia Chairman Larry Babbio said.

"Devas is pleased with the award issued unanimously by the ICC Tribunal. We hope that the dispute, which arose more than four years ago during the previous administration, can now be finally closed," Devas Multimedia President and CEO Ram Viswanathan said.

According to Devas, the Tribunal made a number of findings, including that Antrix had no legal justification for terminating the Agreement and, thus, unlawfully repudiated the deal.

Antrix did not call Radhakrishnan as a witness in the arbitration to explain these actions, something about which the Tribunal expressed surprise, it said.

Based on the value of Devas's business as of the date Antrix unlawfully repudiated the contract, the tribual held, ruling that Devas is entitled to $ 562.50 million in damages.

Devas is entitled to pre-Award interest at 3-month $ LIBOR +4 per cent from February 25, 2011 to the date of the Award (September 14, 2015). This means that as of September 14, 2015, Antrix is liable to pay Devas over $ 672 million, Devas said.

Devas said it is entitled to post-award interest at 18 per cent per annum until Antrix pays the Award in full. This means that over $ 336,000 per day in interest is accruing on the $ 672 million, it added.

Read more at:
ISRO's Antrix to pay Rs 4,432 crore damages to Devas: International tribunal - The Economic Times
 
ISRO has earned 100 millions till today by launching 45 foreign sat now we have to pay almost 7 times of that much Tax payers money to Devas :'(

All this because of previous UPA govt :wall:angry
 
SarfaRaZ said:
Yeah bro really its bad news for ISRO :(
:no:no
Not a bad news for ISRO, It's bad news for us. As from where will ISRO get the rest of $500 Millions(ISRO got $100 millions by launching foreign sat) ? It's all tax payers money

There are 5 crore tax payers in India. So 4432/5 = 880(approx). So each and every tax payers have to pay additional ₹880 tax so that Govt can recover 4432 crore money to pay Devas :wall
 
ISRO’s Antrix directed to pay $670+ million as damages to Devas

ndian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) commercial arm Antrix has been ordered to pay compensation and damages totalling $672 million to Devas Multimedia.
 
The directive was given by the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration, which was wholly in favour of Devas.
 
The Bangalore-based Devas argued that ISRO/Antrix were liable for “unlawfully terminating [an] agreement in February 2011.”
 
The Court’s decision was unanimous and stated that ISRO/Antrix “had no legal justification for terminating the agreement.”
 
The 11-year old Devas deals with innovation and services in satellite communications.
 
The agreement provided for Devas securing 70 MHz of S-band capacity from ISRO by means of leasing 90 per cent of the capacity aboard GSat-6 and GSat-6A satellites. Devas was to pay $300 million to ISRO over the following 12 years.
 
The $672 million award to Devas will grow at a rate of 18 per cent per annum until paid, the International Court said. 
 
In a statement, Devas said, “Devas Multimedia and its shareholders, including highly regarded international investors, are pleased that the ICC Tribunal unanimously ruled in its favour and found that Antrix is liable for unlawfully terminating the Devas-Antrix agreement in February 2011. The ICC Tribunal also awarded damages and pre-award interest totalling $672 million to Devas with post-award interest accruing at 18 per cent per annum on that sum until the award is fully paid.” 
 
“Devas is hopeful that Antrix will now live up to its legal obligations and pay the award so that this dispute that arose during the prior government can be brought to a swift close,” the company added.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/satellites/satelite-operators/isro-s-antrix-directed-to-pay-670-million-as-damages-to-devas-151002
 
Back
Top Bottom
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock