Bharat Sanchar Nigam is readying plans to monetise its land assets valued at ₹13,500 crore by parcelling it out for housing and commercial projects. BSNL has identified 82 land parcels across the country.

The Department of Telecom has moved a note for the Empowered Group of Ministers on Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd seeking permission to monetise five land parcels as a pilot. This includes 37 acres in Borivali, 6.63 acres in Santa Cruz, 25.5 acres Deonar in Mumbai, 1.48 acres in Sector-33, Noida and 0.84 acres in Sector-18 Noida.

The properties will be offered for development to private players through a bidding process under the supervision of BSNL Board. BSNL is expecting to get about ₹3,500 crore from these land deals. The move is part of reviving the telecom company. BSNL has been facing financial difficulties for the last four years. It has incurred a loss of ₹7,884 crore for 2012-13. This has affected the company’s ability to compete in the telecom market.

The land bank was allotted to BSNL at a time when landline exchanges formed the basis of service provision. But now technological advances have reduced the need for large built up space for housing exchanges.

A Committee headed by Sam Pitroda had earlier recommended the creation of a separate subsidiary to hold undeveloped land bank and a large number of unutilised staff quarters. DoT is, however, of the view that the creation of a separate company is likely to take time whereas the need for additional income is immediate. BSNL appointed a consortium of Voyants Solutions Private Ltd and Innovest Advisory Services Private Ltd for development of methodologies for land monetisation.

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