Govt rules out BSNL, MTNL disinvestment

New Delhi, December 12

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The government today ruled out any plans to sell stake or disinvestment of ailing telecom PSUs — BSNL and MTNL in Parliament while fixing a target of Rs 200 crore and Rs 300 crore for them from their asset monetisation in the current fiscal.

While the specific assets to be monetised during the current fiscal have yet not been identified, the target for asset monetisation during the current fiscal year for BSNL and MTNL is Rs 200 crore and Rs 300 crore respectively, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

“(There is) no proposal for disinvestment of BSNL and MTNL is under consideration”, he said.

State run BSNL’s losses for the year 2018-19 has doubled to nearly Rs 15,000 crore from 2017-18 and revenue has also dwindled to Rs 19,321 crore in fiscal 2019.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, the Telecom Minister said MTNL operates in metros of Delhi and Mumbai while BSNL operates in the rest of the country. The Cabinet has approved the revival plan for BSNL and MTNL which inter alia, includes in-principle approval for merger of BSNL and MTNL. The merger will benefit BSNL/MTNL through pan-India footprint, synergy in operations, reduced fixed costs and overheads, sharing of technical infrastructure and enhanced Enterprise Business.

As per the figures given by him in 2018-19, BSNL posted a loss of Rs 14,903 crore against Rs 7,993 crore in 2017-18 and Rs 4,793 crore in 2016-17. MTNL posted a loss of Rs 3,398 crore in 2018-19 compared to Rs 2,971 crore in 2017-18. — IANS

Losses mount 

• BSNL’s losses for the year 2018-19 has doubled to nearly Rs15,000 crore from 2017-18 and revenue has also dwindled to Rs19,321 crore in fiscal 2019
• MTNL posted a loss of Rs3,398 crore in 2018-19 compared to Rs2,971 crore in 2017-18