NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry appear to be getting into murkier waters with their justification and replies to Parliament relating to award of coverage of the Commonwealth Games 2010 to SIS Live which in turn outsourced it to Zoom Communications.

In an action taken report presented to Parliament around 18 months after the Games got over, the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Information Technology which deals with I&B Ministry said it wanted to be informed about the reasons for the ?mismatch in the calculation of the cost estimation at various stages?.

Shunglu assumptions on profits based on wrong premise: Ministry

Interestingly, the Ministry says that the report of the High Level Committee constituted by the Government under V K Shunglu based on the premise that SIS Live had outsourced the work to Zoom Communications for Rs 1.77 billion and the two entities made a profit of Rs 1.34 billion (Rs 690 million to M/s SIS Live and Rs 650 to Zoom) is based on wrong premise and facts as it is based on an income tax survey in the middle of the year. .

The Committee took note of the statement by the Ministry that the tender of SIS Live of Rs 2.46 billion was accepted as it was found by the Financial Evaluation Committee of Prasar Bharati to be around 17 per cent lower than the estimate of Rs 2.54 billion (after taking the impact of foreign exchange variations into account) that was approved by the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs ?for similar components/activities?.

In its reply, the Ministry said Prasar Bharati had on 3 July 2007 initially forwarded an estimate of Rs 5.57 billion. However, on the basis of Request for Information (RFI), the estimates were brought down to Rs 4.45 billion in the EFC proposal. Finally, the Cost Estimate Committee on 16 May 2008 confirmed the cost estimates of Rs 3.66 billion.

Taking note of this ?mismatch? and the fact that the case was still under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Committee said detailed information should be placed before it as soon as the findings are made available to the Ministry.

In its reply, the Ministry admitted that the suspension of then Prasar Bharati CEO BS Lalli was not linked to the Games imbroglio, and gave details of the case registered.

Reiterating its transparency, the Ministry said eight Expressions of Interest applications had been received by the public broadcaster which ultimately forwarded five for issuance of RFP documents. Only two bids were received by the closing date and that of SIS Live was approved. It further said that the Ministry had on two occasions informed the Central Vigilance Commission its reasons for selecting this broadcaster.

The Committee has also taken note of the reply of the Ministry that new amendments are being brought in to improve the relationship between the CEO of the pubcaster and the Government and improve functioning, and expressed the hope that it would be informed about the discussions with the Law Ministry and fate of the amendments in the Cabinet.

Parliamentary Committee observes about loss dilemma between Govt. and pubcaster

In its report last year, the Parliamentary Committee had said it was ?deeply concerned about the controversy?. It is clear that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry seems to be in dilemma about the actual loss on account of broadcasting rights.

What is more, the Committee had noted that neither the I&B Ministry nor Prasar Bharati were aware that SIS Live, United Kingdom, had outsourced the coverage and production to Zoom Communications and this fact came to their notice at ?a later stage?. The Committee was also "surprised to note the opinion given by the Law Ministry that the sub-contract was not in violation of the clause which existed between Prasar Bharati and SIS Live".

The report had said "the fact remains that the contract which SIS Live got from Prasar Bharati for Rs 2.46 billion was outsourced by the entity to Zoom Communications for Rs.1.77 billion. The High Level Committee constituted by the Government under V K Shunglu has estimated the work below Rs one billion."

Prasar Bharati realised gross revenue of Rs 604.8 million through commercial advertisements during the Games held from 3 to 14 October 2010.