Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has requested the government to foot half of its salary bill as part of a revival plan. In a presentation made to the Empowered Group of Ministers, BSNL has stated that the government could either pay it Rs 16.7 billion per year or extend a one-time soft loan of Rs 80.45 billion over a period of ten years to help operator meet salary expenses.
The operator?s total employee remuneration, including pension, ex-gratia payments and other benefits, is expected to reach
Rs 145 billion with its total revenue standing at Rs 280.47 billion in 2014. BSNL estimates that its losses will reach Rs 51.63 billion in 2014.
Currently, the government is looking at various proposals to turn the operator profitable by 2018. The government has already approved a revival plan for BSNL and Mahanagar Sanchar Nigam Limited, which includes refunding Rs 120 billion paid by the two operators to buy broadband wireless spectrum in 2010. In addition, BSNL is planning to hive off its tower assets into a new subsidiary and offering to share CDMA spectrum with private operators. It is also looking to monetise its telecom infrastructure and real estate by creating technology parks.
Going forward, BSNL plans to increase its mobile user base from 98 million to 140 million with a 50 per cent increase in data revenue. The move would help BSNL?s revenue from mobile services grow from Rs 120 billion in 2014 to Rs 190 billion by 2019.
