The Hindu Business Line : BSNL targets $20 billion revenue in 3 years

LOAN REPAID: (From right) Mr S.D. Saxena, Director Finance, BSNL; Mr A. K. Sinha, CMD; Mr Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for Communications and Information Technology; and Dr Shakeel Ahmad, his deputy, at a press conference in the Capital on Thursday. - Kamal Narang

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New Delhi Feb. 22 Even as private telecom operators are making big bucks, State-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is not too far either. BSNL is eyeing a turnover of $20 billion over the next three years at an annual growth rate of 27 per cent, according to projections made by the Communication and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran.

After a meeting with top executives from BSNL, Mr Maran said that the public sector company would be targeting to add 3 million cellular subscribers each month from January 2008. Currently, BSNL is adding nearly 1 million new subscribers every month. The Minister projected that the company would also target to add an average of five lakh broadband connections per month from January next year.

During the meeting, BSNL presented a cheque of Rs 2,500 crore to Mr Maran towards the repayment of notional loan given by the Government. "This loan was payable over a period of 15 years. However, the company has repaid the loan amount well ahead of the due date. The company has been continuously paying dividend to the Government of India and has been a profit making company ever since its inception. So far, an amount of Rs 4,500 crore has been paid by BSNL towards repayment of loan," said a press release.

Last year, a total amount of more than Rs 11,000 crore was paid by BSNL to the Government by way of service tax, income-tax, dividend and loan repayment.

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