BSNL seeks ₹40,000 crore support from government

At present, BSNL has a debt burden of ₹30,000 crore which is one of the lowest in the telecom sector.

State-owned telecom firm BSNL has approached the government for ₹40,000 crore financial help, half of which it needs in the form of sovereign guarantee to clear short-term debt.

BSNL Chairman and Managing Director P. K. Purwar told PTI that the company does not need any additional debt and its business has become self-sustainable to support the operations.

“We do not need any additional debt. We have asked for ₹20,000 crore sovereign guarantee to pay back our short-term debt and issue long term bonds. We will need ₹20,000 crore if we have to set up 1 lakh node B (mobile sites) for mobile network rollout,” Mr. Purwar said.