BSNL, Private Players join hands to revive Manufacturing Units
BSNL is reportedly tieing up with private telecom players with an aim to revive seven of its manufacturing facilities. The factories in question are located at Jabalpur, Richhai, Bhilai, Kolkata, Gopalpur, Kharagpur and Mumbai. The State-owned company manufactures a range of telecom products at these units. These include SIM cards, telecom towers, telecom poles, modems, pay phones and accessories.
BSNL registered a net loss of Rs.1,823 crore on revenue of Rs.32,046 crore in 2009-2010. The company, in all likelihood, will post losses again for the financial year ended 31st March, 2011. The company recorded a net profit of over Rs.10,000 crore in 2005-06.
Failing to compete with private players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Tata, the company has been relegated to the fifth position from second just a few years ago in terms of mobile subscribers.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal recently announced his plans to adopt a "carrot-and-stick" policy in an effort to garner revenues within six months. "The kind of assets BSNL has nobody else can have in this country. We need to use those assets for profit for public service ultimately," he said.
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