Lok Sabha Question No. 109 (STARRED), answered on 2022-02-09
Subject: BSNL and MTNL Losses
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Manish Tewari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 109 TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 TH  FEBRUARY, 2022

## BSNL AND MTNL LOSSES

## *109.   SHRI MANISH TEWARI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether BSNL & MTNL have been incurring regular losses and BSNL's losses during the last three financial years have been Rs.14904, 15500 and 7441 crores respectively;
- (b) whether the Government has invited bids to sell off assets of BSNL and MTNL and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether majority of the telecom subscriber base is controlled by three companies and the third-largest namely Vodafone-Idea has huge debts of around Rs. 1.95 lakh crores;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  agreed  to  convert  Rs.16000  crores  of  interest  liability  to equity in a company with debt of Rs. 1.95 lakh crores and the stock of which is trading at sub-par in the bourses;
- (e) the rationale behind selling assets of Public Sector Telco's while simultaneously bailingout loss making Private Sector companies; and
- (f) the  details  of  subscriber-base  of  top  five  telecom  companies  both  as  number  of subscribers and as percentage of total users in the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS & ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (f) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  109  FOR  9 TH FEBRUARY, 2022 REGARDING 'BSNL AND MTNL LOSSES'.

- (a) The details of profit/(Loss) of BSNL and MTNL for the last three years are as follows:
- (b) Bids were invited for 4 properties of BSNL and 2 properties of MTNL on 18.11.2021 and opened on 04.01.2022.  No eligible bids have been received except for 7 flats in Mumbai.
- (c) & (f) The details of Telecom Subscriber Base in India as on 30.11.2021 are as follows:

| Financial Year   | Profit/ (Loss) in Rs Cr   | Profit/ (Loss) in Rs Cr   |
|------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|                  | BSNL                      | MTNL                      |
| 2018-19          | (-)14904                  | (-)3398                   |
| 2019-20          | (-)15500                  | (-)3811                   |
| 2020-21          | (-)7441                   | (-)2454                   |

|   Sl. No. | Service Providers   | No. of Subscribers (Wireline + Wireless)   | % of total subscribers   |
|-----------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
|         1 | Reliance Jio        | 433,698,108                                | 36.41%                   |
|         2 | Bharti Airtel       | 360,811,328                                | 30.29%                   |
|         3 | Vodafone Idea       | 267,662,574                                | 22.47%                   |
|         4 | BSNL                | 120,840,124                                | 10.15%                   |
|         5 | MTNL                | 6,044,657                                  | 0.51%                    |

As per financial results published by Vodafone Idea Ltd for Q3 in FY2021-22, their total non-current liabilities as on 31.12.2021 is Rs 1.96 Lakh Crores.

- (d) Government has received a proposal from Vodafone Idea Ltd to convert interest liability to equity.
- (e) Government has carried out various reforms for the telecom operators to promote healthy competition,  protect  the  interest  of  consumers  and  infuse  liquidity  in  the  telecom  sector.  For BSNL and MTNL, Government has already approved a revival package on 23.10.2019 which inter-alia includes measures to reduce the employee cost through Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS),  administrative  allotment  of  spectrum  for  4G  services  with  funding  through  capital infusion, debt restructuring by raising of sovereign guarantee bonds and monetization of assets of BSNL/MTNL.

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