BSNL revenue rises from Rs 21,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore in 2 years
New Delhi, May 25
State-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has witnessed a major financial and operational turnaround over the past two years, with its revenue increasing from Rs 21,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore, the Ministry of Communications said on Monday.
BSNL's revival under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transformed the telecom PSU from a struggling enterprise into a key driver of digital inclusion and national development, Union Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said.
The minister said the company adopted a disciplined and systematic approach similar to private sector operations to address long-standing issues such as poor work culture, ageing infrastructure and weak tower performance.
"We approached the revival with systematic rigour and private-sector discipline. The results are now visible through stronger finances, indigenous technology and connectivity reaching India's remotest corners," Pemmasani said.
Highlighting the company's financial recovery, he said BSNL's EBITDA surged sharply from just Rs 50 crore to nearly Rs 7,000 crore in two years.
Pemmasani explained that the turnaround was driven by targeted infrastructure improvements and strict monitoring mechanisms.
In states such as Andhra Pradesh, where tower uptime had dropped to nearly 75 per cent, BSNL set a target of achieving 95 per cent uptime.
The company replaced nearly 50,000 batteries across 50,000 towers, upgraded power plants and changed ageing cables to improve network quality.
The minister also highlighted the rapid deployment of indigenous 4G technology as a major milestone for the company.
"We launched indigenous 4G on 100,000 towers within a single year and have now perfected it to near-global standards. India is now only the fifth country in the world to develop such deep indigenous 4G technology," he said.
On rebuilding customer trust, Pemmasani said BSNL has kept tariffs significantly lower than private telecom operators and has started distributing Re 1 SIM cards through India Post offices to encourage people to test the service.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Impressive numbers—from Rs 50 crore EBITDA to Rs 7,000 crore in just two years is no small feat. But let's be honest, BSNL still has a long way to go in terms of customer service. My office line was down for three days last month and it took multiple complaints to get it fixed. The infrastructure upgrades are welcome, but user experience needs equal attention.
As someone working in a remote part of Uttarakhand, BSNL is literally our lifeline! Private operators don't bother with our area but BSNL towers work when nothing else does. So happy to see they're replacing batteries and upgrading infrastructure. Indigenous 4G development is a proud moment for India 🇮🇳
Good progress but I'm skeptical about these government PSU success stories. Show me the actual customer satisfaction surveys, not just revenue figures. Also, "private sector discipline" in a PSU sounds like an oxymoron—hope it's real this time. The tariff argument is weak too; cheaper isn't always better if the network drops every 5 minutes.
This is what happens when you give proper leadership and autonomy to PSUs! BSNL was left to die by previous governments but look at the turnaround now. 100,000 towers with indigenous 4G in one year—that's world-class execution. My only concern is whether they can sustain this without political interference going forward.
I switched to BSNL last year because of the lower tariffs and honestly, it's been decent for basic calls and
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.