Government approves Rs 1.64 lakh crore revival plan for BSNL

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a Rs 1.64 lakh crore package for the revival of state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). This support package is for four years. But 70 percent of this will be granted in the first two years.

Out of the Rs 1.64 lakh crore, there will be cash support of Rs 44,000 crore, and the rest will be non-cash.

At present, BSNL has a debt burden of Rs 33,000 crore. Sovereign Guarantee Bonds will be issued by BSNL to reduce its high cost of debt.

According to Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister of railways, communications, and electronics, and information technology, the package will have three main elements.

It will aim at improving the quality of BSNL services, it will be used to destress the balance sheet, and it will aim to expand fibre reach.

The firm has struggled to win customers as Reliance Industries' telecoms arm Jio and rivals Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea have rolled out 4G services and aggressively cut data prices.

Further, the Cabinet has approved infrastructure expansion and upgrades.

A survey done by the government revealed that 25,000 villages still need network connectivity, and for this, an investment of Rs 26,316 crore has been greenlit. 

Vaishnaw said that the results of this package would be visible in the next two years, and BSNL will roll out 4G services finally during this.