What?
The ₹56,000 crore merger and revival plan for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) was approved by the Union cabinet. MTNL operates in Delhi and Mumbai, and BSNL in the rest of India.
How?
The turnaround plan includes
MTNL will operate as a unit of BSNL until the merger is completed.
Why?
The aim is
Are both the companies listed?
MTNL is listed but its net worth has totally eroded. BSNL is unlisted.
Do they have assets?
Their land is worth ₹70,000 crore and buildings worth ₹3,760 crore. It also has considerable tower assets. The two companies have a total debt of around ₹40,000 crore.
What about the employee strength?
Around half of the employees in BSNL and MTNL fit the VRS criteria. BSNL has 176,000 employees, compared with MTNL’s around 22,000 employees.
The employee cost of BSNL is 75% and that of MTNL is 87% of total income.