Profit after over a decade, now Rs 1900 crore property deal, this company is set to disrupt market, not owned by Mukesh Ambani, Adani, Narayana Murthy

According to details, BSNL is preparing to sell its property in West Bengal capital Kolkata, which has a total area of 780 kattha (around 10.67 lakh square feet), out of which 630 kathha is available for development, while a heritage building occupies 150 kattha.

BSNL, which has staged a remarkable revival over the past year, and is posing  stiff competition for private telecom giants like Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, has become profitable after nearly 17 years, and is now preparing to raise Rs 1900 crore by selling its unused properties, and use that money to boost its resurgence.

According to details, BSNL is preparing to sell its property in West Bengal capital Kolkata, which has a total area of 780 kattha (around 10.67 lakh square feet), out of which 630 kathha is available for development, while a heritage building occupies 150 kattha. The property, located at the intersection of AJC Bose Road and Alipur Road, one of the city’s most prime locations where one kattha is currently valued at Rs 3 crore, will be sold for Rs 1,900 crore.

The government has handed over the property to the National Land Monetization Corporation for monetization, and is third BSNL-owned property the state is trying to monetize, after land parcels in Barrackpore and Madhyamgram on the northern edge of Kolkata.

What lies at BSNL’s Kolkata property?

The property is home to BSNL manufacturing unit where the state-owned telco used to make telecom components, including telephone sets and boxes, but at present, the factory only manufactures PLB pipes used for laying optical fiber cables.

A tender has been issued for the property, with reports citing BSNL sources saying the public sector unit (PSU) wants to sell the entire plot in a single bid. An international firm is being sought to close the deal, they said.

According to reports, the from the proposed deal will be used to boost BSNL’s revival, with the government recently announcing a massive Rs 80,000 crore revival package for the PSU, that aims for nationwide 4G coverage, and then converting the entire BSNL network to 5G.

BSNL turns profit after 17 years

Meanwhile, last week, BSNL announced that it had turned profitable after nearly 17 years, earning a profit of Rs 262 crore in the October-December quarter of the current financial year.

In a statement, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed that BSNL has turned a profit after nearly 17 years, registering a net profit of Rs 262 crore in the October-December quarter of FY-25. Hailing BSNL’s fiscal performance as a turning point for the company, Scindia said the state-owned telecom provider is focused on expanding its service offerings and customer base.

The minister noted that BSNL has witnessed marked improvements in several key areas, and registered a growth of 14-18 percent in mobile, fiber to the home (FTTH) and leased line service offerings. Additionally, BSNL has also added another 60 lakh new users to its subscribers tally, which stood at around 9 crore in December 2024, against 8.4 crore in June.

The last time BSNL had turned a quarterly profit was way back in 2007. The state-owned provider netted a profit of Rs 262 crore in the December quarter, with revenue from mobile services growing by 15 percent, FTTH revenue up by 18 percent and leased-line services revenue witnessing a 14 percent growth, according to the company’s quarterly results.