Government may scrap BSNL’s Northeast connectivity program

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi-led government is preparing an internal note to scrap the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) mega Northeast telecom connectivity, that could garner as much as Rs 500 crore to the stressed telco which is yet to get any sort of relief from the Centre.
“The telecom department is preparing an internal note to be taken up by the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) to annul the Northeast – I connectivity program bagged by BSNL,” an official source said, adding that the proposal would be accepted in the next panel meet, and a fresh tender would be issued later.
DCC is the highest inter-ministerial decision-making group of the telecom sector with representation from the Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Ramesh Abhishek Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney.