DoT asks state governments not to disconnect BSNL, MTNL electricity connections

The Department of Telecommunications has asked state governments not to disconnect electricity connections of state-owned BSNL and MTNL on account of pending dues as they are providing strategic services for the upcoming elections, sources said.

BSNL has already cleared 90 per cent of its power dues andis expected to clear the rest in the next 15-20 days.

   

“A letter from the Department of Telecom has been sentto state chief secretaries requesting them to avoid disruption in MTNL and BSNLelectricity connections because it is providing strategic support to statemachineries for managing elections,” an official told PTI.

When contacted, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director AnupamShrivastava said, “We have cleared 90 per cent of the dues for electricityconnections. Now around Rs 250 crore is left, which will be cleared in next15-20 days. There were some disconnections that took place but all of them havebeen restored now.”

MTNL Chairman and Managing Director P K Purwar said,”MTNL has no pending electricity dues. All payments are up to date tillFebruary-end.”

Both BSNL and MTNL were unable to pay salaries to theiremployees for the month of February.

The government released pending dues of Rs 171 crore to cash-strappedMTNL for paying February salaries while BSNL has cleared salary dues of aroundRs 850 crore  from its internal accruals.

In the hyper-competitive telecom environment, both thepublic sector firms have approached the government for financial support and toresolve legacy issues, but the Centre is yet to take any final call.

MTNL, which operates only in Delhi and Mumbai, expects thatasset monetisation and other measures can help in paring its debt of around Rs19,000 crore.

BSNL, which has the lowest debt of Rs 14,000 crore among alltelecom operators, has sought 4G spectrum across India through equity infusionof Rs 7,000 crore to help it compete in the market.

BSNL has 1.76 lakh employees across India, while MTNL has around 22,000. It is estimated that 16,000 MTNL employees and 50 per cent of BSNL staffers will retire in the next 5-6 years.

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