NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has given a timeline of September 2022 for pan-India roll-out of its 4G services, informed the Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
With the roll-out of 4G, the company estimates incremental revenue of around Rs 900 crore in the first year from operation. “BSNL invited the expression of interest (EoI) on January 1, 2021 for proof of concept (PoC) for Indian companies interested in participating in BSNL’s upcoming 4G tender,” said the minister.
The minister also informed that BSNL has not partnered with any company for the provision of 5G services. On the revival plans, the minister said the revival plan inter-alia, includes measures to reduce the staff cost through a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for employees of age 50 years and above, administrative allotment of spectrum for providing 4G services with funding through budgetary allocation, monetisation of non-core and core assets to generate resources to retire debt, meet capex and other requirements, debt restructuring by raising of sovereign guarantee bonds and in-principle approval for merger of BSNL and MTNL.
“These measures are expected to help BSNL turn around and remain competitive,” informed Devusinh Chauhan. The minister informed the house that there is no proposal under consideration for disinvestment of BSNL and MTNL.
As per the audited financial statement, the asset of BSNL and MTNL as on Sept 30, 2021 is Rs 1,33,952 crore and Rs 3,556 crore respectively. Netblock of property, plant and equipment in respect of BSNL and MTNL as on March, 2021 are Rs 89,878 crore and Rs 3,252 crore, respectively. Total liability of BSNL and MTNL as on Sept 30, 2021 is Rs 85,721 crore and Rs 30,159 cr, respectively.