At last, Govt woke up and took a solid stand to help survive BSNL.
The Cabinet has approved a 4-way revival plan for BSNL, and have expressed hope that the state-run telecom carrier will be profitable in 2 years.
Here are the initial details:
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Rs 29,937 Crore BSNL Revival Plan Approved
The Union Cabinet has approved a 4-way revival plan for state-run telecom carrier BSNL, which will help them to survive, and operate.
This package includes Rs 15,000 crore which will be raised through sovereign bonds, and monetisation of real estate assets with BSNL, to the tune of Rs 38,000 crore.
This asset monetisation plan will be spread across 4 years.
BSNL To Be Merged With MTNL
In another very interesting step, BSNL will be merged with MTNL, which provides telecom services to the metros.
Now, MTNL is a listed company, and this merger will be complicated, no doubt. Till the time this merger is complete, MTNL will act as a subsidiary of BSNL, and continue to operate independently.
But atleast, both the companies will now survive.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made it clear that BSNL will be neither shutdown nor disinvestment will be done. He said, “Neither BSNL nor MTNL will be closed, disinvested or sell off but the government wants to make them professional,”
VRS Package Approved
At the same time, VRS or Voluntary Retirement Scheme for all BSNL and MTNL employees have been approved, and will be made applicable soon.
There are several aspects of this VRS scheme. Giving an example, Minister Prasad said that if a BSNL or MTNL employee aged 53.5 and more opts for this VRS package, then he/she will be provided with 125% remuneration of the salary, pension and gratuity till the age of 60.
The VRS package will be completely voluntary in nature, and there will be no compulsion to opt for it.
The expenses of this VRS package will be derived from the Rs 29,937 crore revival package announced.
4G Spectrum Will Be Allocated
And lastly, BSNL will be finally be able to get 4G spectrum, and to make the costs less expensive, Govt. will adjust the GST and related taxes applicable for BSNL.
The Minster said, “In 2 years, BSNL will become Ebitda positive, and the Group of Ministers (GoM) with further decide the future course of action,”
More details are awaited.
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