Though the telecom sector has not recovered fully yet, positive swings seem to be emerging. The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the industry rose marginally to Rs 35,932 crore in the January-March quarter. The number for the same period last year stood at Rs 35,697 crore. On a sequential basis, though, the AGR declined a bit, as in the December quarter, the amount was Rs 36,054 crore.

NEW DELHI: Over 1,000 mobile towers and 500 telephone exchanges of cash-strapped Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) are not functional due to non-payment of electricity bills, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

A comprehensive revival plan for two state-owned firms BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is under preparation, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

State-owned telecom firm BSNL has received approval of the home ministry and the Department of Telecommunications to provide special SIM to Amarnath pilgrims.

"Since prepaid connections of other states are not allowed to work in Jammu and Kashmir, special pre-loaded Yatra SIMs are being provided by BSNL with the approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the DoT," BSNL said in a statement.

Aiming to revive loss-making telecom companies BSNL and MTNL, the telecom ministry has proposed a plan comprising an early retirement of staff, capital infusion and monetisation of assets to keep them afloat in a highly competitive market.

An in-principle approval for a potential merger of the two state-run companies is also part of the proposals, according to a senior official from the ministry.

Dismissing media reports as rumours, telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Tamil Nadu Circle on Tuesday said there is no proposal to close down the company.

In a statement issued here, the company said: "There is no proposal to close down BSNL as wrongly reported in a section of the press.

New Delhi: State-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Saturday cleared June salary of all its employees, while it awaits clearance of around ₹14,000 crore in dues from the telecom department.

"BSNL has cleared salary payments of all employees for June from internal accruals of about ₹2,000 crore," an official source, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

Addressing financial stress in the telecom sector after the upcoming spectrum auction, the revival of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) with “least pressure” on the government, and ensuring “fair competition” will be priority for Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

This is besides establishing India as the manufacturing and export hub of electronics.

The government Wednesday clarified there is no proposal to close state-run BSNL and MTNL, which are facing financial stress due to stiff competition and high employee costs, and added that a comprehensive plan for their revival is under preparation.

The government is likely to announce a revival package for state-run telecom firms BSNLand MTNL in the next few days as a severe cash crunch has again jeopardised timely payment of salaries for June.

According to sources, cabinet secretary PK Sinha on Tuesday held a more than an hour-long meeting with department of telecommunications (DoT) officials, including secretary Aruna Sundararajan, to chart out a revival plan.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is learnt to have asked state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) to put all tenders and purchase order on hold, as the company is facing financial crisis.

The finance department of BSNL issued order in this regard on June 2, directing all its circle heads to take prior approval of corporate officer located in Delhi before floating any new tenders for capital expenditure, according to official sources.

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