No proposal to merge BSNL, MTNL: Manoj Sinha

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Thursday said the government has no plans to merge the two state-run telecom companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) at present. 

"We have identified specific areas that our teams will work upon like training of man power, settlement of legal issues, and utilisation of vacant spaces, in order to demonstrate the true value of Synergy. I am also pleased to see the focus on clearly defined timelines and performance indicators," Sinha said

“There is no thinking in the government on merging the two. But we are taking steps to ensure that collaboration between MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd) and BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) strengthens and benefits both the organisations,” Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said on the sidelines of a Department of Telecom (DoT) event here.
The action plan covers MTNL, BSNL, Indian Telephone Industries Ltd (ITI), Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL), Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipments and BharatNet.

“Under the plan, we have identified specific areas where our teams will work on, including manpower, settlement of legal issues and utilisation of vacant space. I am pleased to see the focus on clearly-defined timelines and performance indicators,” Sinha said.