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State-run telecom firm MTNL has defaulted on bank loans worth Rs 8,346.24 crore from seven public sector banks, the company said in a regulatory filing. The loss-making public sector telecom firm's total debt obligations reached Rs 33,568 crore as on March 31, 2025, according to the filing dated April 19. The total loan default includes Rs 3,633.42 crore of debt raised from Union Bank of India, Rs 2,374.49 crore of Indian Overseas Bank, Rs 1,077.34 crore of Bank of India, Rs 464.26 crore Punjab National Bank, Rs 350.05 crore from State Bank of India, Rs 266.30 crore from UCO Bank and Rs 180.3 crore along with principal and interest payment. The defaults in loan payment have occurred between August 2024 to February 2025. The total debt on the company comprises Rs 8,346 crore bank loan, Rs 24,071 crore sovereign guarantee (SG) bond, and loan of Rs 1,151 crore from Department of Telecom (DoT) for paying SG bond interest, according to the filing.
The average annual borrowings by the Assam government increased by nearly 78 per cent over three years from 2019-20, while growth has slowed down for GSDP and per capita income during the current fiscal compared to the preceding year, according to the state's Economic Survey report for 2024-25. The report, tabled in the state assembly on Monday, said the borrowing of the state government was Rs 16,634.53 crore in 2019-20. It increased to Rs 30,510.80 crore in 2022-23, with an annual average growth of 77.92 per cent over the previous year. It said that as per advance estimates, the nominal GSDP at current prices for 2024-25 is likely to be Rs 6.43 lakh crore as against Rs 5.70 lakh crore in 2023-24, reflecting a growth of 12.74 per cent. According to figures mentioned in the budget speech of Finance Minister Ajanta Neog, the state's GSDP growth was 19 per cent in 2023-24 compared to the preceding year, indicating a fall in the projected annual growth rate for 2024-25. The Economic .
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said the country's public sector undertakings have lived up to the global benchmarks and they are the engine of its growth and development. Addressing an event here, he said "India, today excels in most of the global benchmarks, in some areas it is at par with other big nations, whereas in other areas it is much ahead of them." Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, praised the public sector undertakings (PSUs) for their consistent contribution to the Indian economy and being the engines of growth and development. The rise of the Indian economy has been possible due to the contribution of the PSUs, he said. The PSUs have lived up to the global benchmarks and standards, the minister said. "It is due to their unparalleled efforts that India has risen in the global innovation index. Today, it is ranked 40 worldwide, ahead of many economies of comparable size, whereas it was at rank 81 in 2014," Singh was quoted as having said in a statem