BSNL confident of timely payment of salary for May, says MD Anupam Shrivastava

State-owned BSNL is confident of making timely payment of staff salaries for the month of May, Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava said Monday. The company has also tied up with State Bank of India recently for a Rs 1,500 crore loan to meet its working capital requirements, based on a letter of comfort extended by Department of Telecom (DoT). “We are comfortable…We will be able to pay salaries on time this month,” Shrivastava told PTI.

The salary tab of nearly Rs 900 crore would be supported by receivables from mobile, broadband and enterprise businesses, he said. The telecom PSU, which has 1.68 lakh employees, faced a problem in clearing staff salaries for February. The government last month extended an approval and letter of comfort for the PSU to avail loans of up to Rs 3,500 crore from banks for working capital needs – a move that is expected to spell relief for the company battling intense liquidity pressure.