BSNL loss widens over 2.5 times to Rs 39,000cr in April-December

State-owned telecom firm BSNL's loss swelled by over 2.5 times to Rs 39,089 crore during the April-December 2019 period, Minister of State for Telecommunications Sanjay Dhotre has informed Parliament.

The public sector telecom firm had recorded a loss of Rs 14,904 crore in the previous financial year 2018-19.

"BSNL has informed that its total accumulated loss during the current financial year i.e. 2019-20 (upto December 31, 2019) is Rs 39,089 crore," Dhotre said in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The government on October 23 last year approved a Rs 68,751-crore revival package for loss-making BSNL and MTNL, including 4G spectrum allocation and voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).

The Union Cabinet also approved merger of the state-owned telecom firms and till the completion of the process, MTNL will operate as a subsidiary of BSNL, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said here while sharing details of the revival package.

The package includes raising of Rs 15,000 crore sovereign bonds to meet the immediate capital requirement of both the companies, 4G spectrum allocation worth Rs 20,140 crore; Rs 29,937 crore for VRS covering 50 per cent of their employees; and Rs 3,674 crore for goods and services tax that will be levied on allocation of radiowaves.

Over 78,300 BSNL employees and 14,378 at MTNL have opted for VRS which is expected to significantly reduce financial burden from both the companies.