Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-run Indian telecom operator, has asked for Rs 15,000 crore from the government. The telco wants to implement VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) 2.0, and is in need of funds to do that. BSNL's board has already submitted the proposal to the telecom department, and will soon send it to the cabinet. BSNL wants to reduce its employee costs, which are still significant against its revenues. The state-owned telco spends around 38% of its revenues, or about Rs 7,500 crore on its employees.
Read More - BSNL, ISPs Installed 11.97 Lakh FTTH Connections Under BharatNet: Govt
According to an ET report, the goal of BSNL is to reduce it to Rs 5,000 crore a year. This would improve the margins for BSNL, which is struggling financially on account of not having high-speed networks. Under VRS 2.0, BSNL wants to reduce its workforce by about 18,000-19,000 employees. Back in 2019, BSNL announced the VRS with the help of the relief package. That enabled the telco to reduce costs and gain operational efficiency.
This time too BSNL wants to do the same. But without funds from the government, that would be impossible. If you are wondering how much money BSNL has received in relief packages over the last five years, it is in lakhs of crores. However, to be specific, the total cash that BSNL got from the multiple relief packages was Rs 21,000 crore. The rest of the amount is based on the value of assets provided, such as spectrum and more. Thus, the telco needs more cash to pay out its employees so that they can retire early.
Read More - BSNL IFTV and BiTV Difference: What to Know
This would also allow BSNL to retain the younger workforce that is more likely to work aggressively and help turn things around. The government is taking the progress of BSNL seriously and would likely give green light to the proposal.
