No plans to divest BSNL: Government

The Centre has no plans for disinvestment of state-owned telecom player BSNL, Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan has informed the Parliament.

“There is no plan under consideration for disinvestment of BSNL,” he told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

In 2019, the Centre had approved a revival plan for BSNL which included measures to reduce the staff cost through a VRS for employees of age 50 years and above. The plan also included administrative allotment of spectrum for providing 4G services. Chauhan, in his response to another question, said: “As a result of these measures, BSNL has become EBITDA positive (operating profit) in 2020-21.” On the impact of the VRS scheme on services provided by BSNL, he said: “There is no delay or deficiency in services provided by BSNL due to implementation of VRS. “Current strength of employees is sufficient for operation of BSNL.”