Finance Ministry not in favour of closing down BSNL: DoT secretary Anshu Prakash

A top telecom department (DoT) official on Friday indicated that the Finance Ministry is not in favour of closing down state-run BSNL. When asked whether the Finance Ministry has favoured shutting down of the telecom PSU, DoT Secretary Anshu Prakash said, “This information is incorrect.” He was speaking on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of mobile tower industry body TAIPA.

A group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah has approved a revival plan proposed by the DoT. The Group of Ministers had approved a revival package for the loss-making public sector telecom firms in mid-July. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad were part of the GoM that approved the plan. However, finance ministry officials later raised over 80 objections to the proposal firmed up by the telecom ministry.