Ok For Chandra Satellite

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Saturday approved Subhash Chandra-promoted Afro-Asian Satellite Communications (ASC) Enterprise Ltd's proposal to own a satellite.

The approval marks a shift in government policy regarding ownership of communications satellites. Earlier, India companies which owned satellites could not be registered in the country. ASC Enterprises Ltd, the Indian arm of ASC which is registered in Gibraltar and Mauritius, wanted the clearance for a mobile satellite telephony project,

The FIPB on Saturday also listed for discussions proposals by Shinewatra Satellite Public Company and Globalstar India Satellite _ ventures, according to government sources, similar to ASC Enterprises Ltd.

In the ASC project, 14 per cent equity stake would be held by US-based electronics and defence major Lockheed Martin, while 35 per cent would be OCB/NRI holding. The rest would be Indian resident holding, including VSNL and Mumbai-based Essars. The total equity capital is approximately $300 million, of which the foreign equity would amount to about $124 million.

The go-ahead to ASC Enterprises Ltd indicates that the government is open to the idea of companies registered in India owning satellites for communication purposes. The satellite communications policy approved by the UF government stated that Indian private entrepreneurs will be permitted to establish commercial communication satellites and that they will be assisted in registering such satellite systems and networks with the ITU as Indian satellites. ASC is the first company to get the permission to own a satellite after the approval of the satellite policy by the UF government.

However, while clearing ASC Enterprises Ltd's proposal _ a decision on which was earlier deferred _ the FIPB has made it clear that the ASC would need to obtain government permission as and when necessary when the project gets off the ground.

Chandra's mobile satellite telephony project, where the satellites would be built by Lockheed Martin (earlier Chandra had signed an MoU with US-based Hughes), had run into rough weather, with the ministry of defence objecting to such projects. The ministry had said frequencies allotted to such telephony ventures were similar to those used by government organisations. Meanwhile, the FIPB referred 13 pending proposals to the core group, anticipating that the information and broadcasting ministry would firm up its stand on proposals within a fortnight or so after dissociating the uplinking issue from the broadcast bill.