State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) plans to seek Rs 75,000 crore from the Finance Ministry to expand its network, accelerate the rollout of 5G services and improve connectivity across the country. According to a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) official, the proposed funding will be sought separately from the regular Budget allocation. It is aimed at strengthening BSNL’s infrastructure, improving service quality and helping the loss-making operator achieve operational breakeven.
“BSNL needs at least 3.5 lakh 4G towers to improve its network. This will require substantial capital expenditure. The demand will be placed separately before the Finance Ministry and will not be part of the regular Budget allocation,” the official said.
BSNL has already received three major revival packages worth a combined Rs 3.29 lakh crore, approved in 2019, 2022 and 2023. Separately, the government approved additional capital expenditure support of Rs 6,982 crore in 2025.
In 2019, the government approved a revival package worth around Rs 69,000 crore for BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), including measures to reduce their operating costs. In 2022, it announced another package worth around Rs 1.64 lakh crore, covering fresh capital infusion, debt restructuring and viability gap funding for rural telephony.
In 2023, the government approved the allocation of 4G and 5G spectrum to BSNL at a total outlay of around Rs 89,000 crore. The additional Rs 6,982 crore approved in 2025 was intended to support the rollout of its 4G network across the country.
The financial support has helped improve the company’s performance, with BSNL reporting a profit for two consecutive quarters. In the first quarter of FY 2026-27, its revenue from operations rose 10% year-on-year to Rs 4,418 crore, driven by growth in its enterprise and consumer mobility businesses.
Revenue from the enterprise business increased 19.2% to Rs 1,745 crore in Q1 FY27, compared with Rs 1,463 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Consumer mobility revenue rose 8% to Rs 1,724 crore from Rs 1,594 crore.
The company is also expanding its mobile network by installing additional towers across the country. According to the official, BSNL has already installed around one lakh towers and placed orders for another 25,000. It plans to install an additional 50,000 towers as part of its network expansion programme.
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had earlier said that BSNL would add another 50,000-60,000 mobile towers to strengthen its network.
Separately, BSNL and Vodafone Idea have been discussing an expansion of the latter’s use of BSNL’s tower infrastructure to support 4G and 5G services. As of April 2026, BSNL had leased around 1,441 towers to Vodafone Idea, and discussions were underway to increase the number further.