BSNL FY09 net dips at Rs 104 cr as wage rises, revenue falls

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam's (BSNL) net profit dipped to Rs 104 crore in 2008-09 as staff costs rose and revenues fell in the period, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Minister of State for Telecom and IT Gurudas Kamat said the income of BSNL in 2008-09 is Rs 34,937 crore and the net profit is less than last year's profit. He did not give the comparable net profit figure for the previous year.

He said profit has gone down as staff costs have gone up due to revsion of pay and merger of 50 per cent IDA with the basic pay for all employees, and also due to the decline in income from services.

Revenue from basic services dipped by 20.65 per cent in 2008-09 to Rs 11,505 crore from Rs 14,499 crore in 2007-08.

The number of BSNL's landline connections has also fallen in the last six months.

He said the number of working BSNL landline telephone connections has reduced by 7.27 lakh during the last six months to 289.76 lakh in May 2009 from 297.03 lakh in November 2008. Kamat said the main reason for the surrender of landlines was the increasing usage of mobile phones.

Kamat said government has ordered a special audit of the country's five private mobile telecoms firms to check whether there had been any misreporting of revenue.