Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-run Indian telecom operator, had the lowest debt amongst the private telecom operators in FY24. At the same time, BSNL has managed to achieve operating profits in the last few years, and the company's net loss is narrowing every year that goes by. BSNL may not have 4G, but what it does have is the least amount of debt on its balance sheets compared to the private telecom operators. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said that BSNL's debt level reduced to Rs 23,297 crore in FY24 from Rs 28,092 crore in FY23 and Rs 40,400 crore in FY22.
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In comparison, Bharti Airtel's debt stood at Rs 1.26 lakh crore, Vodafone Idea's (Vi) debt stood at Rs 2.07 lakh crore, and Jio Infocomm's debt stood at Rs 52,740 crore.
BSNL has received a lot of help from the Indian government in the form of relief packages. The telco has received up to 3 relief packages between FY20 and FY24. The first one came in 2019 for Rs 69,000 crore, the second one came in 2022 for Rs 1.64 lakh crore, and the third one came in 2023 for Rs 89,000 crore. The government has allocated 4G and 5G spectrum to BSNL as part of one of the relief packages.
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Further, BSNL has been asked to raise money by monetising its land parcels and buildings. The Indian government is expecting BSNL to turn into a profit-making company by FY27. Its net losses have gone down significantly from Rs 15,500 crore in FY19 to Rs 5,371 crore in FY24. At the same time, the company's EBITDA (earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation) is growing every year. The company is hoping for its 4G networks to provide the much-needed boost to turn profitable in the medium-term.
