Union Cabinet approves Rs. 89000 crore revival package for BSNL

New Delhi, Jun 07: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday is likely to have approved the Rs 89,000 crore revival package for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The package will be utilized for enhancing BSNL's 4G and 5G services. The Central government believes that a government PSU in telecom should flourish because of its strategic importance, sources told BTTV.

 

 

 

This, however, is not the first revival package for BSNL announced by the Centre. The Centre also announced a revival package for BSNL in July 2022 worth Rs 1.64 lakh crore to provide 4G and 5G services to turn the telecom PSU into a more profitable organization. The package comprised a cash component worth Rs 43,964 crore and a non-cash component worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore spread over a duration of 4 years.

 

 

 

The package focused on the advancement of services and their quality, de-stressing BSNL's balance sheet, and expanding BSNL's optical fiber network. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at the time that statutory dues worth Rs 33,404 crore will be converted into equity to de-stress BSNL's balance sheet.

 

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The government also merged Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) with BSNL. With this merger, BSNL got an additional 5.67 lakh km of optical fiber laid across 1.85 lakh village panchayats through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).