The Cabinet on Wednesday gave ‘in-principle’ approval to BSNL to hive off its mobile tower assets into a separate company, a move that should help the state-run outfit realign its structure in the highly competitive telecom sector.
“It will also help BSNL unlock value in its tower assets and improve its financial position,” an official statement said.
Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL, said this welcome step will help generate profit for the company.
Asked if this would lead to any disinvestment by the company, Shrivastava told
Shrivastava said the new unit will be set up within nine months, and is expected to generate revenue of ₹940 crore in the first year of operations.
He, however, ruled out any private participation in the new venture. BSNL has around 64,500 mobile towers, of which, more than 50,000 have optical fibre cable connectivity.