According to industry sources, the government is against the merger of Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).
The stand has reportedly come weeks after Kumar Mangalam Birla had said that he is willing to hand over his 27 per cent stake in Vi to any entity, public sector/government /domestic financial entity in the name of national interest.
In this regard, the government has claimed that if Vi, BSNL and MTNL’s operations are combined together, the merged entity may turn into an even-bigger financial drain on the exchequer in the coming years if the operations do not turn around.
