The government has deferred the merger of state-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL due to financial reasons, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said that a proposal for the merger of Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is under examination.
"Government has approved the revival plan of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) on October 23, 2019, which inter-alia includes in-principle approval for the merger of MTNL and BSNL. Due to financial reasons including high debt of MTNL, the merger of MTNL with BSNL is deferred," Chauhan said.
BSNL Chairman and managing director PK Purwar, who also heads MTNL, has submitted before a Parliamentary panel that the Department of Telecom should consider carving out of over Rs 26,500 crore debt of MTNL and its assets under a special purpose vehicle.
He suggested that thereafter operations of MTNL should be merged with BSNL.
MTNL was earlier expected to turn profitable by 2020-21 and BSNL by 2023-24 after both PSUs were jointly given a relief package of around Rs 70,000 crore in 2019.
"With Rs 26,000 crore debt, even if God comes to earth and tries to address its problems, the company cannot be revived. It is a fact of life; we have to accept it," MTNL CMD told the panel.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU