Our Bureau
Mumbai
The financial crisis of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has now intensified as the Finance Ministry has announced that they have demanded a proper and concrete monetization roadmap with a proper time frame. The decision to take this route came after the Ministry of Telecommunication requested a new capital infusion to address the increasing liabilities of MTNL.
Confirming the reports, one of the senior officials from the Finance Ministry said, “MTNL has been asked to accelerate the monetisation of its non-core assets and submit a clear plan to determine the next steps. Around 50 surplus assets have been identified across the country. The monetisation exercise is already underway and progressing well.”
The monetisation that has been asked of includes real estate assets i.e., mainly land and buildings belonging to both BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) and MTNL in Tier 1 cities like Mumbai and Delhi. The ministry expects MTNL to submit a monetisation plan that will help them ease their debt.
The company will be submitting a fully devised monetary plan and provide a detailed blueprint including the asset valuation to the Ministry of Finance in the first 6 months of this fiscal year. It is to be believed that the total surplus assets of BSNL accumulate to somewhere around 50,000 crores. But that is not the total amount they can offer as a few of their assets might not be fit to be monetized.
MTNL’s total debt as of now stands at Rs 33,568 crore. It comprises Rs 24,071 crore in sovereign guarantee bonds, Rs 8,415 crore in outstanding dues to the lenders, and Rs 1,151 crore in a DoT loan for bond interest servicing. Monetisation is now the only way with which MTNL can navigate through the muddle of financial crises that it is stuck in.
