The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has requested Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) to identify core and non-core assets with value up to Rs 100 million for monetisation.
The move comes after the government has been facing difficulties in monetising BSNL and MTNL assets of higher value.
Earlier, in 2019, the central government had approved the first revival package worth Rs 690 billion for the two telecom public sector undertakings (PSUs) for monetisation.
After the government’s recent move, BSNL is likely to identify at least 10 properties in the mentioned value range in each circle. To this end, the chief general managers of all circles have reportedly been asked to identify assets within the ambit of BSNL board that can be monetised. They have been given three months to complete the task, post which BSNL will share its monetisation target with the DoT.
As per the policy for monetization of land and building assets of BSNL and MTNL, the two firms do not require the permission of the Group of Ministers (GoM) for the sale of assets with values less than Rs 100 million, unlike properties valued between Rs 100 million and Rs 1,000 million. The Department of Public Enterprises takes up decisions for monetisation of properties over Rs 1,000 million.
