Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Excerpts of PM's reply in the Rajya Sabha debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address

Mr. Chairman Sir,

We have had a spirited debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President in which many Members on both sides have spoken. I have listened carefully to the debate and I thank all Members for their comments. 

The Leader of the Opposition has raised a number of issues related to inflation, falling investment, problems in infrastructure etc. Many of these were raised by other members also, and I will deal with them in turn. 

However, the Hon'ble Leader of the Opposition has also referred to my role in the formulation and implementation of policy in relation to the allocation of 2G spectrum. The 2G issue has occupied the front pages of our newspapers for the past several months following the submission of the CAG report. The Government was keen to have the matter discussed in Parliament, but this could not happen in the winter session. 

The issues that most concern the public are whether the Government was responsible for allowing 2G spectrum to be allotted in 2008 at unacceptably low prices which led to a large loss to the exchequer; and whether established procedures for selecting applicants were followed in a fair manner. 

The Leader of the Opposition has alleged that I have distanced myself from key policy decisions and also that the spectrum pricing was decided against the explicit dissent of the then Finance Minister. I regret the attempt to create the appearances of differences through innuendo and misrepresentation. The issue will now be examined by a JPC, and I have no doubt the JPC will bring out the full facts. However, I feel it is only appropriate that I should place the facts before the House, and through the House the people. Since the issues involved are complex, I would not like to take up too much time of the House at this time but state only the essentials. 

The government's policy on the pricing of spectrum was taken on the basis of the Cabinet decision of 2003, which specifically left this issue to be determined by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Telecommunications. Contrary to the assertion of the Leader of the Opposition, the record clearly shows that the then Finance Minister, while he initially had a different view, which he communicated to me on January 15, subsequently consulted with the Minister, Telecommunications and the two Ministers worked out an agreed formula on spectrum charges, which was reported to me in a meeting on July 4, 2008. Furthermore, this decision that was put to me by the two Ministers was in line with the recommendations of TRAI in its report of August 2007. In that report TRAI had clearly stated that only 3G spectrum should be auctioned and the policy for 2G spectrum should continue on the same basis as hitherto. This recommendation of TRAI was based on the need to ensure a level playing field between the new entrants and the incumbents. The two Ministers had agreed on this, because of legacy considerations, and I accepted their recommendation. 

On the issue of the implementation of the first-come-first served policy, the situation is more complex. I was categorically assured by the Minister, Telecommunications that the policy was being implemented appropriately with one departure which had been cleared by the Solicitor General. Subsequent developments suggest that this was not the case. The matter was taken up for investigation by CBI in 2009. The government at no stage interfered with this investigation. 

Given the concern in the public mind of extensive wrong doing, there is often impatience that government should take some action. This is entirely understandable. But I am sure honourable Members will recognize that government must also act with due process of law. I can assure the House that we are making every effort in this regard. No one should have any doubt that those found guilty of manipulating the system unfairly will be severely dealt with under the law. 

The Hon'ble Leader of Opposition has made several observations about the Antrix-Devas agreement. He asked about who M/s. Forge Advisers were and what their credentials were. This question is better posed to his own Party leadership who were in the NDA Government and to the then Prime Minister. The fact of the matter is that the first discussions between M/s. Forge Advisers and Antrix and ISRO were initiated in March 2003 and May 2003 respectively and continued throughout 2003 and 2004. The Memorandum of Understanding which M/s. Forge Advisers signed with Antrix was in July 2003. All this happened when the Party to which the Hon'ble Leader of Opposition belongs was in power and led the NDA Government. The then Prime Minister was also the Minister-in-charge of the Department of Space. 

The Hon'ble Leader of Opposition has stated that this is the mother of all sweetheart deals and has spoken of figures in the range of lakhs of crores. I think he is confusing s-band space segment capacity with terrestrial spectrum. The prices he is quoting are for terrestrial spectrum. I wish to clarify that no allocation of terrestrial spectrum has been made by the Government to either Antrix or Devas and therefore the figures he has quoted have no basis in fact. 

Shri Jaitley asked who determines these prices and how. I would like to inform the Hon'ble Leader of Opposition that the decision to open satellite services to non-governmental parties, Indian and foreign, was taken and approved by the Government in 1997. Thereafter, the norms, guidelines and procedures to operationalise this policy, including the modalities for pricing of lease of transponders were approved in 2000 by the Cabinet of which the Hon'ble Leader of Opposition was himself a member of at that time. The pricing of the lease of the transponders in the agreement was made in accordance with these guidelines. 

Shri Jaitley has said that the Cabinet approved this agreement in December 2005. In December 2005, the Union Cabinet approved building of the GSAT-6 satellite following the approval given by the Space Commission in May 2005. The proposal sought approval for launching the satellite to offer a satellite digital multimedia broadcasting service and in addition to use the satellite capacity for strategic and social applications. The proposal stated that ISRO is already in receipt of several firm expressions of interest by service providers for utilization of this satellite capacity on commercial terms. Neither the Space Commission nor the Cabinet was informed of the prior agreement between Antrix and Devas and therefore there was no question of approving it. 

The Leader of the Opposition has said that the Prime Minister should not close the issue only by annulling the deal, and that this will not wipe out criminality. I assure him that there is no such intention. A High Powered Review Committee has been set up, and the government will take all requisite action based on its findings and recommendations. 

But before I close my remarks on the issue, I wish to say that the country takes great pride in the spectacular achievements of its space scientists. The Government is fully committed to preserving the integrity and excellence of India's space programme and the honest efforts of our scientists.