Govt says no plan to disinvest in BSNL, MTNL

The government said on Wednesday there is no proposal to disinvest stake in BSNL and MTNL as part of their revival strategy.

To a question whether the government has any proposal to disinvest BSNL and MTNL as part of their revival strategy, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad replied in the negative.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the minister said every attempt with effective monitoring is being undertaken to revive the two companies and make them competitive.

"The results are positive. There is no proposal to disinvest them as part of revival plan," Prasad said.

The minister further said the government has provided financial support of Rs 169.16 crore to BSNL and Rs 458.04 crore to MTNL for surrender of spectrum in the 800 MHz band.

In reply to a separate question, Prasad said Rs 7,795.99 crore have been allocated and authorised by BSNL in 2015-16 for expansion of communication network capacity in various telecom services.