India cabinet okays $11 bln revival plan for state-owned BSNL - CNBC-TV18 (updated)

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam

07/06/2023 09:39

(Adds background in paragraph 2, MTNL share movement in
paragraph 4)
       NEW DELHI, June 7 (Reuters) - India's cabinet has
approved a revival package of 890.47 billion rupees ($10.79
billion) for state telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd
(BSNL), CNBC-TV 18 reported on Wednesday citing sources. 
        The development comes days after BSNL 
    partnered
     with top software company Tata Consultancy Services
 TCS.NS  to help deploy 4G network across the country when
larger rivals are rolling out high-speed 5G network.
  
        BSNL, struggling with  poor infrastructure, has been
battered by intense competition from Jio, the wireless arm of
Reliance Industries  RELI.NS , Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea
which have rolled out 4G services at low prices on voice calls
and data.
  
        Shares of state-owned telecom firm Mahanagar Telephone
Nigam Ltd  MTNL.NS  surged nearly 12% after the news on rival
package for BSNL. 
        
  
($1 = 82.5057 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Sakshi Dayal in New Delhi and Rama Venkat in
Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna N. Das and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
 ((Sakshi.Dayal@thomsonreuters.com;))