Devas seizes $87k worth Antrix assets in arbitral award enforcement

Devas Multimedia Inc has seized cash worth Rs 69.5 lakh belonging to Antrix Corp, following a US court award that allowed Devas to go after any assets of Antrix in the US, according to a US court order seen by ET.

The Devas shareholders are enforcing an International Chamber of Commerce arbitral award of $1.2 billion to Devas, owed by ISRO commercial arm Antrix that scrapped a satellite deal with the company in 2011, leading to a decade-long legal battle.

"In a big win for Devas shareholders, Devas Multimedia America Inc. has seized cash assets in the U.S. that belong to Antrix – the state-owned commercial and marketing arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)," a statement representing Devas' shareholders said.


A letter has been sent to Antrix on the seizure. This story would be updated with its response.

In January, a US court allowed Devas Multimedia to pursue assets of Antrix in any jurisdiction, provided there is evidence of the asset in the jurisdiction. Devas had earlier said it had seized $30 million worth assets of the Airports Authority of India held by the International Air transport Association.

In September 2015, Devas had won a $562-m award from the International Chamber of Commerce arbitration which said Antrix had wrongfully scrapped a deal to build satellites for Devas. In October 2020, a US court upheld the ICC award.