RailTel Corporation bags Rs 25 crore deal from BSNL for point-to-point commissioning, Telecom News, ET Telecom

NEW DELHI: State-run ICT integrator and broadband internet provider RailTel Corporation on Thursday bagged an advanced purchase order worth Rs 25.46 crore per annum for point-to-point commissioning for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), it said in a regulatory filing.

The order will be valid for a year and will be further extendable by two years, it further said.

It was trading at Rs 162.50, down 1.84% on the NSE at 3:30 pm IST.

The mini Ratna PSU under the Ministry of Railway (MoR) on 26 16 February 2021 issued a Rs 818.24 crore IPO at a price range of Rs 93-94 which was subscribed 42.39 times on the final day of subscription (18 February 2021). It reported a net profit of Rs 45.58 crore and total sales of Rs 537.40 crore in six months ended September 2020.

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Here’s everything to know about BSNL’s revival plan

Contents

1 Here’s everything to know about BSNL’s revival plan

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Revival Plan

To help the two ailing state-owned telcos, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) overcome their long salary dues and meet the daily cash flow requirement, the government intervened and introduced a Rs 69,000 crore worth four-step revival process on October 23, 2019. The steps were taken to help telecom carriers overcome financial stress.
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Voluntary Retirement Scheme

As a part of revival plan, the government introduced Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) under which any employee above the age of 53 and half, who opts for the VRS, will be given 125% remuneration of the salary, pension and gratuity till the age of 60. 78,300 employees opted for the VRS, and the BSNL is expected to save approximately 50 per cent of the company’s total staff cost of Rs 14,500 crore. MTNL’s 14,378 employees, accounting for 76 per cent of the total workforce, opted for the VRS.
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4G Spectrum

The government said to fund the scheme by infusing capital in these public sector undertakings at a value of Rs 20,140 crore. In addition, the GST amount of Rs 3,674 crore to this spectrum value will also be borne by the government through budgetary resources. BSNL has also sought radio waves in the 2100 MHz spectrum for pan India operation except in the Rajasthan circle, while MTNL, which only operates in two metros, has asked for the 1800 MHz spectrum in Delhi and 2100 MHz in Mumbai.
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Asset Monetisation

The Cabinet has also approved assets monetisation worth Rs 38,000 crore over a period of four years to raise resources for retiring debt, servicing of bonds, network upgradation, expansion and meeting the operational fund requirements. BSNL expects to make about Rs 300 crore in current fiscal year from assets monetisation. The telco is currently in talks with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for sale of specific land parcels. Certain assets had already been identified by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).
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Raising Sovereign Bonds

To meet the urgent capital requirement, the government announced to raise Rs 15,000 crore by issuing sovereign bonds, though its clearance is still pending from Ministry of Finance, but is expected to be cleared by February, 2020.
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Merger between BSNL and MTNL

In October, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government aims to merge the two ailing firms– MTNL and BSNL as part of a revival package. On November 01, 2019, the government approved the mega merger allowing MTNL to become a subsidiary of BSNL. MTNL’s stocks are listed and its employee wages are higher than those in BSNL. Government holds 56.25% share in MTNL. The full-merger between the two is expected to be completed in 2-3 years.