The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a ₹1.64 lakh crore package for the revival of state-owned telecom firm BSNL, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The revival measures approved by the Cabinet focus on fresh capital for upgrading services, allocating spectrum, de-stressing its balance sheet and augmenting its fiber network by merging Bharat Broadband Nigam Ltd (BBNL) with BSNL.

Briefing media on the decision taken by the Union Cabinet, he said, the package has a cash component of ₹43,964 crore and a non-cash part of ₹1.2 lakh crore spread over four years.

4G services

The government will make administrative allocation of spectrum BSNL needs to offer 4G services. The allocation of spectrum in 900/1800 MHz band at the cost of ₹44,993 crore would be through equity infusion.

He said to meet the projected capital expenditure for next four years, the government will fund capex of ₹22,471 crore for developing 4G technology stack.

Viability-gap funding

Also, the government will provide ₹13,789 crore to BSNL as viability-gap funding for commercially unviable rural wireline operations done during 2014-15 to 2019-20.

To de-stress the balance sheet, ₹33,404 crore statutory dues will be converted into equity.

Besides, the government will provide sovereign guarantee for raising money to repay current loans, he said.

BharatNet merger

To facilitate wider utilisation of infrastructure laid under BharatNet, BBNL will be merged with BSNL, he said.

The infrastructure created under BharatNet will continue to be a national asset, accessible on a non-discriminatory basis to all the Telecom Service Providers.

The Minister said the Union Cabinet also approved a project for saturation of 4G mobile services in uncovered villages across the country at a total cost of ₹26,316 crore.

The project will provide 4G mobile services in 24,680 uncovered villages in remote and difficult areas, he said.

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