Washington: A US court has asked Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), to pay a $ 1.2 billion fine to Bangalore-based startup Devas Multimedia for breaching contracts. Antrix Corporation broke the agreement to manufacture and launch the satellite with Devas in February 2011. The agreement was signed between Antrix and Devas in January 2005. According to this agreement, the construction, launch, and operation of two satellites for Devas was agreed upon.

With its help, Bangalore-based startup company Devas Multimedia had plans to provide 70 MHz of S-band spectrum, through which Devas was planning to provide hybrid satellite and terrestrial communication services across India. The agreement was canceled by Antrix Corporation in February 2011. However, Devas then went to various legal forums in India for the next several years. It even went to the Supreme Court with this matter. The court ordered the matter to be taken to the tribunal. In September 2018, the company took this case to the US court.

Antrix Corporation raised the issue of judicial jurisdiction against it and requested to dismiss the case but the court said that it can hear the case. On October 27, a Washington district court judge, Thomas S. Jilli, said that Space will pay Devas Rs 56.25 crore in damages and interest on it. This amount comes to $ 1.2 billion, including compensation and interest.

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