BSNL and MTNL to merge, Centre announces Rs 70,000 crore revival package

The government on Wednesday, finally approved a nearly Rs 70,000-crore revival package for the ailing telecom PSUs, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), which will include the two raising long-term sovereign bonds, allocation of 4G spectrum by the government, a voluntary retirement scheme, and the merger of the two firms.

The revival package is a little less than the Rs 74,000 crore which the department of telecommunications had initially pitched for but fails
to assure that the two loss-making PSUs will be able to compete in a hyper-competitive telecom market where incumbent private sector
players are also finding it difficult to survive.