The Hindu : Business : BSNL plans major network expansion

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Saturday, Apr 09, 2005

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Business

BSNL plans major network expansion

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 8. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be embarking on a massive expansion programme, said its Chairman and Managing Director, A. K. Sinha.

Mr. Sinha said the company planned to invest Rs. 80,000 crores to triple its subscriber base to 12.5-crore lines over the next three years. While a sum of Rs. 30,000 crores was planned to be borrowed from the market, the balance would accrue from internal resources.

The BSNL Director (Finance), S. D. Saxena, said the investment would double the asset base of BSNL, which at present stood at Rs. 63,000 crores.

BSNL had invested huge sums in the past few years but its planned to add new infrastructure worth Rs. 25,000 crores over each of the next three years outstriped any of its past expansion plans by a wide margin, said Dr. Saxena.

At a separate function, the Union Communications and Information Technology Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, said he had asked top officials of BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) to give preference to domestically manufactured products in their expansion plans. "The multinational corporations should also realise the importance of manufacturing in India. It will help them give good product support,'' he said.

Mr. Maran said the Government's commitment towards beefing up the manufacturing base could be seen from its revival plans for the public sector ITI. A tie up with the French multinational, Alcatel, had helped it roll out one million lines and another three million were in the offing. Besides, the French company was planning to export two million ITI-manufactured lines. He said the public sector company would get a major share of future orders from BSNL.

Mr. Maran said the Union Finance Ministry had played a big role in assuaging fears of India being a disadvantageous manufacturing destination after import duties were slashed to zero following the implementation of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). "We have now sent a clear signal. We will protect our domestic manufacturers and ensure they retain a competitive edge. We will walk the extra mile,'' he added.

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