Centre considers handing over debt laden MTNL to BSNL

The central government can hand over the operations of debt-ridden Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) through an agreement. Earlier, the option of merging MTNL with BSNL was also considered. A final decision in this regard can be taken in a month.

A source said that MTNL But in view of the high debt, its merger with BSNL would not be the right option. After a decision is taken on this, this proposal will be placed before the Committee of Secretaries. After getting approval from this committee, this proposal will go to the Union Cabinet. In a recent filing, MTNL had said that it cannot pay interest to some bondholders due to lack of sufficient funds. MTNL’s services are in the capital Delhi and Mumbai.

for the past few years BSNL is also facing difficulties. Recently, a request has been made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the company. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has said that the presence of BSNL is important to control the dominance of private telecom companies in pricing. In a letter written to Prime Minister Modi, BMS has requested that the central government ensure that BSNL is allowed to use 4G and 5G related equipment from international vendors until indigenous technology is developed. The letter states, “We understand the importance of self-reliant India in telecom and support it. Along with this, we believe that it is important for BSNL to get permission to upgrade its existing infrastructure until indigenous technology is developed, so that it can launch services.” Recently the company has started 4G service.

BMS General Secretary, Ravindra Himte has said in this letter that the existence of BSNL as a telecom company providing 4G and 5G services is in the interest of the country and the common people. He has said that due to the absence of new mobile services, the company is losing subscribers and this is affecting its financial condition and employees.

(This news has not been edited by the NDTV team. It has been published directly from the Syndicate feed.)