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BSNL CMD calls for remedial steps to arrest revenue fall

BSNL

Surviving on the government’s bailout package of Rs 1.64 trillion, state-owned BSNL’s revenues in 13 circles have seen a sharp decline during the April-December period of the current fiscal, leading the company’s chairman and managing director read the riot act to the chief general managers (CGMs) of the circles concerned.

“It may be noted that the signed MoU between DoT and BSNL to implement the Cabinet decision (revival package) requires BSNL to ensure accountability by taking action against non-performers. It can be seen that five circles have become borderline negative (with regard to revenue), five circles have become markedly negative and three have slipped into the critically negative territory in the last year,” BSNL CMD P K Purwar has said in a letter to the CGMs.

The eight circles in which the company has seen a significant fall in revenues are West Bengal, Chennai, UP East, Sikkim, Andaman, Nicobar, Orissa, Bihar, and Karnataka. The circles where the company has seen weakness in revenues are Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, North East, and Jharkhand.

“The CGMs of West Bengal, Chennai Telephones, UP East, Sikkim, Andaman, and Nicobar, Orissa, Bihar, and Karnataka may take remedial steps on a war footing and apprise corporate office of their action plan in the next seven days,” Purwar has said.

While the company’s overall revenue during the nine-month period grew 14% y-o-y to 12,748 crore, net losses have increased to 5,457 crore from Rs 5,424 crore a year back, due to an increase in expenses such as employee cost.

In 2022, the company lost 7.7 million mobile subscribers, taking its total base to 106.6 million at the end of December, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

While Purwar did not mention the reasons for the dip in revenue in the 13 circles, the company’s financial performance for the nine-month period suggests that there has been a fall in its landline and broadband services.

According to the letter, West Bengal was the worst-performing circle during the period, registering a 26% fall in revenues to 205 crores, followed by Chennai which saw a decline of 21% in revenues at Rs 241 crore. In UP East, revenues fell by 21% to 391 crores, while in the other circles, the fall in revenues was in the range of 0.4-12%.

The top performing circles of the company were UP West, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, Kolkata Telephones, and regions in north and south, where the company undertakes transmission operations maintenance largely for enterprises.

In FY22, BSNL’s revenues declined nearly 4% on year to Rs 16,811 crore. The company’s loss narrowed to Rs 6,982 crore, from Rs 7,441 crore in the preceding financial year.

According to the targets laid down by the government at the time of providing the bailout package, BSNL needs to post a net profit in the financial year 2026-27. Financial Express

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