Loss Laden BSNL to raise funds by leasing out its land and telecom factories
The telecom sector has been reeling under the pressure of the poor profit margins and the state run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been incurring losses in the last few financial years. Hence in order to raise funds, BSNL has decided to lease parts of its land holdings and will also offer its telecom factories to contract manufacturers to generate revenue.
BSNL, which the government is trying to revive, plans to offer seven out of 10 identified land parcels on leases of 30-90 years for commercial or residential projects. BSNL chairman and managing director RK Upadhyay mentioned that bidders will be asked to make an upfront down payment, while the balance will be recovered in instalments over a five-year span.
Now the sad part is that BSNL ranks as one of the largest land holders with property running into thousands of crores of rupees across about 3,500 towns and most of it is lying unused due to poor governance. The ailing government run telecom company is hoping to raise Rs 400-Rs 500 crore in the first year from this venture. However the unaudited financial results for 2013-14 indicate that BSNL will incur a loss of Rs 7,084 crore. Hence it will take a few years for them to come out of the losses if they manage to lease their properties seamlessly.
Source- The Economic Times
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, BSNL to raise funds, leasing out its land and telecom factories, RK Upadhyay, telecom factories to contract manufacturers
