The central government is looking to raise around Rs 16,000 crore by selling land assets owned by BSNL and MTNL. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) are two state-run telecom companies struggling to compete with the private players. The proposal to do this has been cleared by Department of Public Enterprises and National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC). The revival plan is being overseen by a group of ministers led by Rajnath Singh.
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Very soon, an approval from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Monetisation (DIPAM) is also expected to come. According to an ET report, one of the key bottlenecks, which was the absence of a full-time chief executive officer at NLMC has been resolved. The government recently appointed Vikas Anand as the full-time CEO of the body.
The government will use the money raised through the selling of the land parcels in helping BSNL and MTNL. Both the telecom companies have land assets in premium or key locations of major cities including Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. The Indian government has been trying to sell the land assets of BSNL and MTNL for a long time now. It is happening at a much slower pace than the target.
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For the first phase, as per the report, the land parcels identified for selling are MTNL's office building in Connaught Place near the fire brigade office, Delhi; Central Administration Building at CR Marg, Fort, Mumbai. Then there is BSNL's building in Santacruz and Dinrose Telephone Exchange Building in Anna Salai, Chennai. BSNL and MTNL will benefit from the sale proceeds as they can use the money for rolling out 4G and 5G rapidly in the key telecom circles and areas for scaling operations.
