Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region chaired the second strategic review and planning meeting for the second quarter (Q2) of financial year 2025–26 (FY26) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in New Delhi, attended by chief general managers (CGMs) from all 28 circles across the country.

The review assessed BSNL’s circle-wise and vertical-wise performance across key parameters of revenue, service quality, and operational efficiency. It also evaluated the company’s progress in sustaining its profitability momentum following back-to-back net quarterly profits in FY25,  and maintaining its strong trajectory through the first half (H1) of FY26.

The minister commended the leadership team for achieving a 93 per cent revenue run rate against Q2 targets, generating close to Rs 53.47 crore and contributing to a total H1 revenue of Rs 111.34 crore. BSNL’s annual revenue target for FY26 stands at Rs 275 crore, up from Rs 250 crore the previous year, reflecting the organisation’s improving operational and market performance.

Emphasising that BSNL’s achievements stem from the collective capabilities of its CGMs, the minister said, “Everything in life is execution-driven, and our CGMs are BSNL’s execution artists. You are the standard-bearers of transformation across your circles.” He stressed that quality of service (QoS) is the organisation’s “non-negotiable mantra”, urging daily monitoring of uptime, mean repair time, and customer satisfaction indices. “Everything else is a result of QoS,” he remarked.

The minister urged all circles to benchmark their base transceivers stations (BTS) and optical line terminal (OTL) uptime performance against competitors, identify gaps, and complete battery and media replacements across all circles by December 2025. “We operate in days and hours, not months,” he said. He also underscored cost discipline, stating that no circle should report negative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), as “every rupee saved adds directly to the bottom line.”

Among the key performance highlights discussed:

  • Average revenue per user (ARPU) rose from Rs 81 in Q1 to Rs 92 in Q2 FY26.
  • Revenue per employee averaged Rs 0.9 million, with Odisha, Maharashtra, and Haryana among the top performers.
  • The enterprise business vertical surpassed its quarterly target at 103 per cent, while consumer fixed access achieved 90 per cent of its goal with a 2 per cent increase in subscriber base.

The minister felicitated the CGMs of Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (East), Jammu & Kashmir, and Andaman & Nicobar Circles for their exemplary performance, calling them BSNL’s “five stars”. He encouraged healthy competition among circles, expressing hope that “these five stars will be challenged and unseated in Q3 by others aiming higher.”

Minster directed all CGMs to replicate BSNL’s quarterly and monthly review model at circle and operational levels, engaging officers in structured feedback and mentoring sessions. “Empower and energise your teams. If they drive it, we become unstoppable,” he said, underscoring that culture ultimately outweighs strategy, once the right culture is in place, the system drives itself.

The minister concluded by reaffirming BSNL’s commitment to customer-centric transformation. The meeting ended with a renewed pledge from all circles to deliver world-class telecom services, operational excellence, and sustained profitability through FY26 and beyond.