New Delhi, Delhi, As you may be aware, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, independent Member of Parliament and Member of the Standing Committee on Finance, had written to the Honble Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (letter attached for reference) on 10 December 2009 expressing grave concern about the deteriorating financial situation and abysmal state of affairs at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Mr. Chandrasekhar had appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene immediately and save BSNL from collapse as well as to prevent a downward spiral in its valuation, which would be an immense loss to the Exchequer and the nation.
It is heartening that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken due note about the gravity of the situation. Consequently, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) convened a meeting with the Telecom Ministry today, 6 January, to discuss the problems plaguing BSNL, including its declining revenues and falling market share.
Despite the rising number of telecom users in India, BSNL has posted disappointing results with the lowest net profit of Rs575 crore on revenues of about Rs36,000 crore in the last financial year. In the dynamic and fast-growing telecom market, BSNL has failed to expand mobile network capacity in the past two years. Also, lack of transparent operations has seen its 93-million GSM lines tender for Rs 35,000 crore run into a Central Vigilance Commission probe, stalling the much-needed expansion.
In the 10 December letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Chandrasekhar had suggested the PM intervention and some immediate measures to revamp the entire management and Board of BSNL, as well as removal of DoT mandatory approval for capital expenditure and empowering of the BSNL Board to decide all matters on purchase and procurement.
"With oversight by the Honble Prime Minister, I am confident the necessary steps will be taken to facilitate a turnaround in BSNL fortunes, making it a highly competitive and best-in-class telecom company as well as a true navratna public sector unit, like before," said Mr. Chandrasekhar.
