The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the merger of Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) into the state-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) during the cabinet meeting.
With the merger, BSNL will get an additional 5.67 lakh kilometre of optical fibre which has been laid across 1.85 lakh village panchayats in the country using the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Currently, it has an optical fibre cable network of over 6.83 lakh kilometre.
In addition, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also announced a revival package of Rs 1,64,156 crore for BSNL during the cabinet briefing today. The last approval for such revival package was given in the year 2019.
Elements of the revival package includes:
- Advancement of services and its quality
- Destress balance sheet of BSNL
- To expand BSNL optical fibre network
Furthermore, the cabinet has decided to convert Rs 33,000 cr of statutory dues into equity.
“BSNL will work as an executing arm of the government and ownership of assets will rest with the government. BBNL has a workforce of less than 200. We have in our proposal said that we can absorb them in BSNL and contracts will be obliged, and revenue share agreements will be honoured,” ET Telecom reported PK Purwar, BSNL CMD, as saying.
The government in April 2022 had announced that BBNL, the special purpose vehicle (SPV), formed to implement the ambitious BharatNet project will be merged with BSNL.
Source: Economic Times