MTNL working on monetizing certain assets in Mumbai- Thakur

• Public sector telecom MTNL is working on monetising certain assets in Mumbai

• The assets include land, staff quarters and telephone exchange in Mumbai

• No property in Delhi is presently under monetization through the Department of Investment and DIPAM

New Delhi: (Disinvestment news) Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said that the state-run MTNL has submitted a set of assets, including land, staff quarters and telephone exchange in Mumbai, for monetisation. He also said that the International Property Consultants has been appointed for end-to-end transaction advice on the monetization of these properties. Thakur was replying to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha. "MTNL has submitted a set of assets for monetization through the DIPAM framework. The assets include land, staff quarters and telephone exchange in Mumbai," Thakur said in the written reply.

Thakur said no property in Delhi is presently under monetization through the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Framework (DIPAM) framework. The details of properties in Mumbai which are presently under monetization are three land parcels, two staff quarters and a telephone exchange along with a staff quarter.

"MTNL has submitted a set of assets for monetization through the DIPAM framework. The assets include land, staff quarters and telephone exchange in Mumbai,"- Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State (Finance)

The minister informed the house that since the asset monetization process is a complex one involving multiple stakeholders and agencies, hence a specific time frame for completion of these monetization transactions cannot be defined at present.

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The government had in October last year approved the revival plan for MTNL. The revival plan includes measures to reduce the staff cost through a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for employees of age above 50 years, administrative allotment of spectrum to MTNL for providing 4G service, asset monetization, debt restructuring by raising of Sovereign Guarantee Bonds and in-principle approval for the merger of BSNL/MTNL.

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