Union Cabinet approves third revival package for BSNL

New Delhi [India], June 7 : The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the third revival package for BSNL with a total financial outlay of Rs 89,047 crore. It includes an allotment of 4G/5G spectrum for BSNL.

With this revival package, the government expects BSNL will emerge as a stable telecom service provider focused on providing connectivity to the remotest parts of India.

Telecom is a strategic sector and the presence of BSNL in the telecom market acts as a market balancer.

The government had in 2019 and 2022 approved the first and second revival packages for BSNL/MTNL worth Rs. 69,000 crore and Rs 1.64 lakh crore, respectively.

"It (the revival packages) provided financial support for capex, viability gap funding for rural landlines, financial support for de-stressing the balance sheet, and settlement of AGR dues, the merger of BBNL with BSNL, etc," the government said today in a statement.

As a result of these two packages, BSNL has started earning operating profits since 2021-22. BSNL's total debt has reduced from Rs 32,944 crore to Rs 22,289 crore.