NEW DELHI: The state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has received Rs 52,937 crore capital infusion from the government in 2023-24. “The capital will be used to install new towers, upgradation of towers to 4G and 5G and revamp of landline systems. The allocation is part of the revival package for BSNL that was announced in July last year for Rs 1.64 lakh crore. Good steps have been taken. BSNL has also raised new debts,” said telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The telco will soon launch its 4G mobile services and the testing for locally developed 4G solutions on a live network will start this month, much behind private telecom operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel which have already started 5G services.
The loss-making company has been planning to launch 4G since 2019 but in 2020, it was forced to cancel a tender due to restrictive conditions for domestic firms. The government has allocated Rs 2,158 crore for optical fibre cable based network for defense services and Rs 715.8 crore for telecom projects in the North Eastern states. The Department of Posts has been allocated Rs 25,814 crore and includes Rs 250 crore capital infusion in the India Post Payments Bank.