mtnl: Govt calls bids for six MTNL, BSNL properties | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Centre has started the process of auctioning non-core assets of the two loss-making state-run telecom companies, BSNL and MTNL.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management ( Dipam) has invited bids on the MSTC portal for six properties of BSNL and MTNL, kick-starting the non-core asset monetisation of the two struggling telecom PSUs.
The two companies, which have failed to show any credible turnaround despite being given a massive Rs 70,000-crore revival package some time back, own massive land assets across the country worth thousands of crores. The government will, however, start the sale process of some of these assets in a phased manner. There is the issue of land use that may put restrictions on utilising the land for non-telecom purposes. Apart from land bank, the government had previously also discussed monetising the tower assets of BSNL and MTNL, though not much headway seems to have been made.
The Centre unveiled a Rs 6 lakh crore asset monetisation plan over the next four years. Assets which have been identified include roads, power transmission and generation, gas pipelines, warehousing, railways, telecom, 25 airports, 31 projects in nine major ports, coal and mineral mining, sports stadia, redevelopment of colonies.
Only brownfield assets will be considered; land has been left out. The top five sectors include: roads (27%), followed by railways (25%), power (15%), oil & gas pipelines (8%) and telecom (6%). Roads and railways together account for 52% of a total NMP value, according to the government data.