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SL Govt. hasn’t invested in Supreme SAT: Minister
The Sri Lanka Government has not invested any monies for the launch of the satellite by Supreme SAT, and none of the satellite orbital slots belonging to Sri Lanka has been allocated for this project, Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told Parliament yesterday.
“The satellite orbital slots from 50 degree east and 121.5 degree east have been allocated for Sri Lanka, and the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) has not given permission to either a local or foreign company to use these slots,” the Minister said in response to several queries raised by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on December 6, regarding this project.
Minister Siyambalapitiya said that China SAT 12 uses an orbital slot belonging to China, and that the TRC has not given permission for a satellite project of the Sri Lankan Government.
He said that the cost and the methodology of covering the cost are not relevant to Sri Lanka as Supreme SAT 1 satellite is not a local project.
Supreme SAT Solutions (PVT) Ltd is a company registered under the Companies Act, and operates from the 33rd floor of the World Trade Centre. It is a 100% Sri Lankan private venture, and their total investments for the first and second phases are US$ 2.38 million. According to the Board of Investment (BOI), the cost for the third phase would be earned from a loan obtained from a foreign bank.
The directors of Supreme SAT (Pvt) Ltd are Ramasamy Muttusamy Maniwanan and Sanmuganathan Sudarshan.
The Minister said that, even though Supreme SAT (Pvt) Ltd is a private venture, it would increase the Sri Lankan investment portfolio and would help Sri Lanka becoming the knowledge hub of Asia.
The Minister added that the first phase of Supreme SAT project was launched in 2012, the second will be in 2013 and the third in 2015.
The estimated investment for the first phase stands at US$ 4 million, US$ 15 million for the second and the third phase US$ 300 million.
The BOI gave its approval on May 15, 2012, to set up this project at the Pallekele Industrial Zone, on the basis of a no objection letter provided by the TRC of Sri Lanka.
Approval had been given by the BOI only for the first and second phases of the project. Accordingly, during the first phase, an earth transmission centre would be set up for uplinking and down linking between the earth transmission centre and the China SAT 12 (Supreme SAT). It is planned to allow transmission from the Supreme SAT satellite and the earth centre during the second stage. It is also envisaged to launch another satellite into orbit in the third phase.
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