MTNL was in a loss of Rs 2,900 crore in 2014 and last year the company's operating loss has come down from Rs 140 crore to Rs 70 crore in one year time, says the Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday said state-run telecom firm MTNL, which is running into losses, is likely to turn profitable in the next fiscal.
BSNL, the other state-owned telecom service provider, has already reversed its loss-making trend by reporting operating profit of Rs 672 crore in 2014-15.
"MTNL was in loss of Rs 2,900 crore loss in 2014. Today, their operating loss has come down from Rs 140 crore to Rs 70 crore in one year time," Prasad told reporters. "They (MTNL) have promised me that in fiscal 2016-17 like BSNL they will also come into operating profits," he added.
According to Prasad, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) plans to install about 6,000 cameras at 1,800 locations in Mumbai under the police city surveillance scheme. The firm also proposes to provide hi-speed broadband to one lakh homes in Mumbai.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) operates on a pan-India basis, barring Delhi and Mumbai, where the other state-owned firm MTNL provides telecom services.
ALSO READ: New Year gift: MTNL to offer free roaming from January 1
Prasad noted that BSNL had recorded loss of Rs 8,000 crore at the time he took over as the minister. "But, today in five years BSNL has recorded operating profits of Rs 672 crore this year. BSNL revenue has risen by 4.1%," he said.
Prasad also noted that BSNL was adding 15-16 lakh mobile customers every month, an increase from 6-7 lakh customers it was getting till March-April 2015. On the issue of call drops, the minister said he appreciated the mobile companies for spreading mobile services across the country. However, he noted that it was the responsibility of the companies to also provide good quality services including maintenance and infrastructure.
"For the service to be good the government has to sometimes take a tough stand for all telecom operators including BSNL and MTNL," Prasad said. "They (mobile firms) have done some good work they need to do more," he added. He also noted that his government is pushing electronic manufacturing in a big way.
"About Rs 11,700 crore investments proposal were there when I became the minister in June 2014 but till December-end about Rs 1.18 lakh crore have been invested in the sector," Prasad said. "The World is watching electronic manufacturing in India with great interest," the minister added.
Moreover, Prasad said that as many as 40 domestic and multinational financial giants have sought to partner India Post for its upcoming payments bank which should commence by March 2017.
ALSO READ: India Post to launch payment bank by March 2017
Also observing that government's digital India initiative is to help in the upliftment of the poor, Prasad noted that his ministry will set up call centres in digitally weak regions of the country.
"We are bringing in call centres in small cities. We have identified 48,000 seats and allocated them to cities which are digitally weak," he said.
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