The Centre has more than halved the outlay for the state-run BSNL to `33,575.58 crore for FY26, from `72,027.65 crore in FY25 suggesting it wants the telco to start generating better cash flows. Moreover, the Centre did not deploy the `82,916.2 crore allocated towards BSNL in the FY25 Budget, implying that any infusion into the telco would be increasingly need-based, say experts.
Mahesh Uppal, director, Com First, a telecom advisory firm, told FE that having provided the financial support BSNL needed to launch 4G, the Centre would expect the telco to deliver. “It remains to be seen how its 4G services are received since it is a very late entrant,” Uppal said.
“The reduction in capex is most likely because the revival package announced in 2022 is tapering off,” another telecom executive said.The cut in outlay comes at a time when BSNL is preparing a pan-India rollout of its 4G services. In December 2024, BSNL launched its 4G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai — almost a decade after private peers Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea launched the service.
In 2022, a revival package of `1.64 lakh crore was announced for BSNL to provide financial support for capex, viability gap funding for rural landlines, financial support for de-stressing the balance sheet, and settlement of AGR dues, among others.According to the latest Trai data, BSNL had 92 million subscribers as on November 30, 2024.
While it did see some reduction in sustained customer loss last year after the tariff hikes taken by the three telcos, once the sim consolidation trend waned, it started bleeding customers again.BSNL’s 4G journey will be an uphill one not only because it is late to the game, but also because private telcos have sharpened focus on rural areas where a state-run telco could have captured a catchment, analysts said. “In rural areas, there is also the issue of demand and device availability. So, all in all, it will be a tough ask for BSNL” Uppal added.
In some respite to the telco, the government, through its revival package announced in June 2023, has allocated Rs 89, 047.82 crore worth of spectrum through equity infusion.
This includes 4G and 5G spectrum across 700 MHz, 3300 MHz, 26 GHz, and 2500 MHz. As a result, authorised capital of BSNL will be increased from Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2.1 lakh crore,
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