BSNL | MTNL
Govt has no plans to privatise MTNL: Minister Devusinh Chauhan
New Delhi: The government has no plans to privatize Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan has said, putting an end to speculations that the loss-making telecom company would be up for sale.
"MTNL has been incurring losses since 2016-17, and its loss stood at Rs 2,617 crore for the year 2021-22," Chauhan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha last week, adding, "There is no plan to privatise MTNL."
In October 2019, the Cabinet approved the revival plan for BSNL and MTNL in which an in-principle nod for the merger of the two state-owned telecom corporations was granted.
The government, in December 2020, postponed the merger till MTNL’s debt position improves and the adverse financial condition of BSNL alleviates.
In another written reply, the minister said that in a Cabinet meeting on 14 June, the government has reserved the spectrum for BSNL for providing 5G services.
" Testing of Indian make 4G Equipment, under Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, is already at advance stage and the delivery of the equipment will commence after completion of the testing. People will start getting benefitted once this equipment is deployed and commissioned," he said.
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