State-run telco BSNL seeks Rs 40,000 cr support from government

This is beyond the Rs 69,000 crore relief package that was announced in 2019

State-owned telecom firm BSNL has approached the government for Rs 40,000 crore financial help, half of which it needs in the form of sovereign guarantee to clear short-term debt.

BSNL Chairman and Managing Director PK Purwar told PTI that the company does not need any additional debt and its business has become self-sustainable to support the operations.

"We do not need any additional debt. We have asked for Rs 20,000 crore sovereign guarantee to pay back our short-term debt and issue long term bonds. We will need Rs 20,000 crore if we have to set up 1 lakh node B (mobile sites) for mobile network rollout," Purwar said.

The BSNL CMD confirmed that he has approached the government for the support, which is beyond the Rs 69,000 crore relief package that was announced in 2019.

At present, BSNL has a debt burden of Rs 30,000 crore which is one of the lowest in the telecom sector.

Purwar also heads MTNL, which is proposed to be merged with BSNL. The government has already issued a permit to BSNL to operate mobile business in Delhi and Mumbai which was earlier managed by MTNL.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Wednesday extended the additional charge of Purwar as chairman and managing director of loss-making telecom firm MTNL for a period of one year till October 2022.

The government had offered a combined revival package of about Rs 69,000 crore to BSNL and MTNL in October 2019 that has helped both telecom PSUs in narrowing their losses.

According to official data, losses of BSNL have narrowed to Rs 7,441 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 15,500 crore in 2019-20.

MTNL reported a total loss of Rs 2,554 crore for the last fiscal compared to Rs 3,811 crore in 2019-20.