HYDERABAD : Revival Measures
OBTAINING A REFUND of Rs 6,000 crore from the government by surrendering broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum and offering voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to around 1 lakh employees
DEVELOPING ON COMMERCIAL scale the huge land bank of hundreds of acres in prime locations across the country through PPP model
IMPROVING REVENUE and profits through value-added services
India's state-owned telecom provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) hopes to wipe out its losses of around Rs 12,000 crore over the next three years on the back of a series of revival measures being initiated now, its chairman and managing director Rakesh K Upadhyay told ET.
The key revival measures include obtaining a refund of Rs 6,000 crore from the government by surrendering broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum and offering voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to around 1 lakh employees that could result in around Rs 2,400 crore of savings per annum, he said.
Other measures include developing on commercial scale the huge land bank of hundreds of acres in prime locations spread across the country through public private partnership model and significantly improving the revenues and profits through value-added services.
The state-owned telco has registered a series of dismal results over the last last four years that saw the erstwhile monopoly being reduced to a bit player in the fast-growing market.
BSNL saw its overall revenue fall from Rs 39,715 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 38,053 crore in 2007-08 and further to Rs 35,812 crore in 2008-09, before falling to Rs 32,046 crore in 2009-10. Its fall from grace is best explained from the fact that its annual revenues were over the Rs 40,000-crore mark for the year-ended March 06.
The telco, which has tripled its net losses to around Rs 6,000 crore during the last fiscal, expects to arrest the losses at around this level during the current fiscal, taking the total losses to around Rs 12,000 crore by March 2012. "We expect the revival measures to help us wipe out the losses of around Rs 12,000 crore by March 2015," Upadhyay told ET.
Once considered as jewel among the India's state run companies, BSNL is facing an uphill task of meeting its fund requirement towards capital expenditure this fiscal as its cash and bank balance has reached to a critical level of Rs 2,500 crore.
Upadhyay said that the costs incurred for third generation ( 3G) and wireless broadband access spectrum had resulted in the company's cash reserves crashing to a mere Rs 2,500 crore by March 2011 from around Rs 40,000 crore few years. "Spectrum charges has really brought us badly down and made a serious dent in our cash reserves," Upadhyay added.
Another factor that led to depletion of reserves was capital expenditure incurred over the last few years, he said. On the PSU's survival in the backdrop of depleting reserves and mounting losses, he said, "We definitely do not need any bailout package from the government. But what we do need is adequate compensation from the government for our efforts in meeting social obligations as a state-owned company."
OBTAINING A REFUND of Rs 6,000 crore from the government by surrendering broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum and offering voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to around 1 lakh employees
DEVELOPING ON COMMERCIAL scale the huge land bank of hundreds of acres in prime locations across the country through PPP model
IMPROVING REVENUE and profits through value-added services
India's state-owned telecom provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) hopes to wipe out its losses of around Rs 12,000 crore over the next three years on the back of a series of revival measures being initiated now, its chairman and managing director Rakesh K Upadhyay told ET.
The key revival measures include obtaining a refund of Rs 6,000 crore from the government by surrendering broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum and offering voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to around 1 lakh employees that could result in around Rs 2,400 crore of savings per annum, he said.
Other measures include developing on commercial scale the huge land bank of hundreds of acres in prime locations spread across the country through public private partnership model and significantly improving the revenues and profits through value-added services.
The state-owned telco has registered a series of dismal results over the last last four years that saw the erstwhile monopoly being reduced to a bit player in the fast-growing market.
BSNL saw its overall revenue fall from Rs 39,715 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 38,053 crore in 2007-08 and further to Rs 35,812 crore in 2008-09, before falling to Rs 32,046 crore in 2009-10. Its fall from grace is best explained from the fact that its annual revenues were over the Rs 40,000-crore mark for the year-ended March 06.
The telco, which has tripled its net losses to around Rs 6,000 crore during the last fiscal, expects to arrest the losses at around this level during the current fiscal, taking the total losses to around Rs 12,000 crore by March 2012. "We expect the revival measures to help us wipe out the losses of around Rs 12,000 crore by March 2015," Upadhyay told ET.
Once considered as jewel among the India's state run companies, BSNL is facing an uphill task of meeting its fund requirement towards capital expenditure this fiscal as its cash and bank balance has reached to a critical level of Rs 2,500 crore.
Upadhyay said that the costs incurred for third generation ( 3G) and wireless broadband access spectrum had resulted in the company's cash reserves crashing to a mere Rs 2,500 crore by March 2011 from around Rs 40,000 crore few years. "Spectrum charges has really brought us badly down and made a serious dent in our cash reserves," Upadhyay added.
Another factor that led to depletion of reserves was capital expenditure incurred over the last few years, he said. On the PSU's survival in the backdrop of depleting reserves and mounting losses, he said, "We definitely do not need any bailout package from the government. But what we do need is adequate compensation from the government for our efforts in meeting social obligations as a state-owned company."
