PMO seeks DoT road map to revive BSNL, MTNL

The Prime Minister's Office has asked the Department of Telecom to submit a road map for reviving the ailing state-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL.

In a meeting with the representatives of telecom and finance ministries held a couple of days back, PMO officials sought from DoT details of 4G spectrum allocation to both the firms, voluntary retirement package and grant of financial aid, sources in DoT said.

"It was decided to help MTNL and BSNL raise capital.... There is a proposal for asset monetisation and loan option through sovereign guarantee,” the source said.

While agreeing to bail out loss making public sector firms, the PMO also asked DoT to work on the best suited action that needs to be taken.

The BSNL board has already accepted the proposal for a voluntary retirement scheme to shrink its staff size from the current 1.76 lakh.

The VRS scheme for BSNL and MTNL will cost Rs 6,365 crore and Rs 2,120 crore respectively.