India’s ISRO owes $672m damages
October 1, 2015
By Chris Forrester
The India Space Research Organisation’s commercial arm (ANTRIX) has been ordered to pay compensation and damages totalling $672 million (€602m) to Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia.
Founded in 2004 the Devas business is focussed on innovation and services in satellite communications.
The International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration made its ruling public September 29th and was wholly in favour of the Devas claim, which 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 agreement in place had Devas securing 70 MHz of S-band capacity from ISRO b y 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. “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.”