The government on Wednesday said the merger of state-owned telecom companies BSNL and MTNL is likely to be completed in 18-24 months. “The Cabinet in its meeting held on October 23, 2019, approved the revival plan for BSNL and MTNL which inter-alia includes in-principle approval for merger of BSNL and MTNL. The process of merger is likely to be completed in 18-24 months,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
The government has earlier said that till the completion of the merger, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) will operate as a subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).
Both the debt-ridden companies have rolled out voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), which is open for employees till December 3.
In the case of BSNL, as many as 77,000 employees of state-owned telecom corporation have opted for the recently launched VRS till now.
While in the case of MTNL, 13,532 employees have opted for the VRS scheme so far.
