<p>State-owned telecom firm BSNL has approached the government for Rs 40,000 crore financial help, half of which it needs in the form of sovereign guarantee to clear short-term debt.</p>.<p>BSNL Chairman and Managing Director PK Purwar told <em>PTI </em>that the company does not need any additional debt and its business has become self-sustainable to support the operations.</p>.<p>"We do not need any additional debt. We have asked for Rs 20,000 crore sovereign guarantee to pay back our short-term debt and issue long term bonds. We will need Rs 20,000 crore if we have to set up 1 lakh node B (mobile sites) for mobile network rollout," Purwar said.</p>.<p>The BSNL CMD confirmed that he has approached the government for the support, which is beyond the Rs 69,000 crore relief package that was announced in 2019.</p>.<p>At present, BSNL has a debt burden of Rs 30,000 crore which is one of the lowest in the telecom sector.</p>.<p>Purwar also heads MTNL, which is proposed to be merged with BSNL. The government has already issued a permit to BSNL to operate mobile business in Delhi and Mumbai which was earlier managed by MTNL.</p>.<p>The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Wednesday extended the additional charge of Purwar as chairman and managing director of loss-making telecom firm MTNL for a period of one year till October 2022.</p>.<p>The government had offered a combined revival package of about Rs 69,000 crore to BSNL and MTNL in October 2019 that has helped both telecom PSUs in narrowing their losses.</p>.<p>According to official data, losses of BSNL have narrowed to Rs 7,441 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 15,500 crore in 2019-20.</p>.<p>MTNL reported a total loss of Rs 2,554 crore for the last fiscal compared to Rs 3,811 crore in 2019-20. </p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>
<p>State-owned telecom firm BSNL has approached the government for Rs 40,000 crore financial help, half of which it needs in the form of sovereign guarantee to clear short-term debt.</p>.<p>BSNL Chairman and Managing Director PK Purwar told <em>PTI </em>that the company does not need any additional debt and its business has become self-sustainable to support the operations.</p>.<p>"We do not need any additional debt. We have asked for Rs 20,000 crore sovereign guarantee to pay back our short-term debt and issue long term bonds. We will need Rs 20,000 crore if we have to set up 1 lakh node B (mobile sites) for mobile network rollout," Purwar said.</p>.<p>The BSNL CMD confirmed that he has approached the government for the support, which is beyond the Rs 69,000 crore relief package that was announced in 2019.</p>.<p>At present, BSNL has a debt burden of Rs 30,000 crore which is one of the lowest in the telecom sector.</p>.<p>Purwar also heads MTNL, which is proposed to be merged with BSNL. The government has already issued a permit to BSNL to operate mobile business in Delhi and Mumbai which was earlier managed by MTNL.</p>.<p>The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Wednesday extended the additional charge of Purwar as chairman and managing director of loss-making telecom firm MTNL for a period of one year till October 2022.</p>.<p>The government had offered a combined revival package of about Rs 69,000 crore to BSNL and MTNL in October 2019 that has helped both telecom PSUs in narrowing their losses.</p>.<p>According to official data, losses of BSNL have narrowed to Rs 7,441 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 15,500 crore in 2019-20.</p>.<p>MTNL reported a total loss of Rs 2,554 crore for the last fiscal compared to Rs 3,811 crore in 2019-20. </p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>