The Indian govt has asked Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) to monetise their land assets faster. The state-run telecom companies were asked to sell land assets to raise money for operations. With the expected potential of about Rs 20,000 crore, BSNL/MTNL have only been able to raise about Rs 550 crore. Looking at the slow pace at which this process is going, the center has asked the two telecom companies to speed up the process of land monetisation, said an ET report.
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Senior officials of BSNL and MTNL have to prepare a detailed circle-wise report, with a land parcel and a reason for the delay and expected hurdles, by May 31, the report added.
The executives said that there are issues with taxation along with several permissions that are required at both the state and local levels to go through with the monetisation process. It is worth recalling that in May last year, BSNL and MTNL were asked to identify 10 properties in each of the 22 telecom circles which could be monetised. The Chief General Managers (CGMs) had 3 months to identify these properties, but even after eight months from the order, the first stage of identifying the properties has not been completed.
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If there are land parcels that are small in size and valued below Rs 10 crore, then those do not require the approval of the Group of Ministers (GoMs). However, if the property value falls between Rs 10-100 crore, then GoM's approval is required.
Allowing the state-run telecom companies to monetise the land assets will help with their revival. The central government has already announced multiple relief packages between 2019 and 2024 for BSNL and MTNL to help them regain their market share and compete with private telecom operators.
