DoT seeks Rs 33,111 cr for payment of BSNL AGR dues

The Department of Telecom has sought Rs 33,111 crore for payment of adjusted gross revenue dues of state-run BSNL
DoT seeks Rs 33,111 cr for payment of BSNL AGR dues
DoT seeks Rs 33,111 cr for payment of BSNL AGR dues

New Delhi: The Department of Telecom has sought Rs 33,111 crore for payment of adjusted gross revenue dues of state-run BSNL which is likely to be made in the upcoming April-June quarter, according to a Parliamentary panel report.

In a submission to the Standing Committee of Communications and Information Technology, the Department of Telecom shared that against the proposal of Rs 39,725.07 crore for 2023-24, Rs 66,691.82 crore has been allocated to it in the budget.

Payment of AGR dues to BSNL

"The increased amount is towards the payment of AGR dues to BSNL, which is part of its revival package. The Department had proposed an amount of Rs 33,111 crores for the AGR Dues. The payment will be made once BSNL claims the amount and is most likely to happen in the first quarter of FY 2023-24," the DoT informed in a written reply to the panel.

Budgetary allocations for DoT

The Finance Ministry has allocated a total of Rs 1,08,153.25 crore under Budget Estimates for 2023-24 to the DoT comprising Rs 41,461.43 crore under the revenue section and Rs 66,691.82 crore for capital section accounts.

The government had allocated Rs 44,720 crore for capital infusion in the state-run BSNL and MTNL for the current fiscal which was revised to Rs 33,269.01 crore and out of the total allocated fund Rs 23,873.44 crore has been spent till December 2022.

"Due to indigenous development of 4G stack for the first time in the country and issues in supply chain of chipsets, the deployment will gradually start and completion of projects of one lakh sites is likely to take 2 years," the DoT submitted. The DoT has informed the panel that BSNL will gradually improve and is expected to be profitable in the financial year 2026-27.

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