No significant headway achieved on monetisation of assets of BSNL-MTNL, says Par panel

The Standing Committee on Communications and IT, in its report, has emphasised its earlier recommendation that the matter of reservation/designation of land be taken up at the highest level of government for policy intervention so as to address the issue at the earliest and expedite the monetisation of assets of the telecom PSUs.

New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has said that "no significant headway" has been made so far on monetisation of assets of state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). The Standing Committee on Communications and IT, in its report, has emphasised its earlier recommendation that the matter of reservation/designation of land be taken up at the highest level of government for policy intervention so as to address the issue at the earliest and expedite the monetisation of assets of the telecom PSUs.

"The department may keep the committee apprise of the progress made in this regard," said the panel in its report presented to Lok Sabha on Thursday. The report is on action taken by the government on the observations/ recommendations of the panel contained in an earlier report on 'Demands for Grants (2022-23)' of the Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecom or DoT).

The Committee further said it is "concerned to note that no significant headway has been achieved till now with regard to monetisation of assets of BSNL and MTNL" in spite of the fact that asset monetisation has been envisioned by the government as core plan for repayment of loan/overdraft/bond. "The committee note from the Action Taken Notes that the department are making efforts for monetisation of different categories of properties belonging to BSNL with no concrete results so far," it said.

The department, however, has not furnished any reply on the present status to address the issue of reservation/designation of land with the state governments which was hampering the monetisation prospects, the panel observed. "The committee were given to understand that significant assets in Mumbai are having reservation and designation issues resulting in dropping of valuation of the property due to unsustainable conditions and this will not be possible without tweaking the policy," it said.

The panel has also emphasised that necessary measures be taken by the Department of Telecom (DoT) for successful roll out of 4G services by BSNL. "The department have, however, not furnished reply to the recommendation of the Committee for allocation of 5G spectrum in all bands to BSNL. This is significant, considering the fact that BSNL has been denied a level playing field when compared to the private telecom service providers with regard to rolling out of 4G services," it said.

As a result, BSNL could not roll out 4G services. "The Committee reiterate their earlier recommendation that BSNL should be allocated 5G spectrum in all the bands and provide a level-playing field vis-a-vis private TSPs (telecom service providers) with regard to purchase of equipment," the committee said. (PTI)