The company, 56.25% held by the government, has a 30-acre patch in Borivali (around 1 lakh sq ft) valued at around Rs1,000 crore.
MUMBAI: State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is set to unlock the value of its real estate holding in Mumbai, albeit slowly.
The company, 56.25% held by the government, has a 30-acre patch in Borivali (around 1 lakh sq ft) valued at around Rs1,000 crore.
Sources said the company doesn't plan to sell off the land as it had acquired it at a subsidised rate from the state government.
However, it does plan to develop the non-development portion of the land into playgrounds, swimming pools and related amenities for being given out on rent.
MTNL will hire an external consultant soon for development of the land. Expressions of interest are likely to be invited next month for land development.
J Gopal, executive director, MTNL told DNA Money, "We have some strategy to develop a part of the Borivali land, but it's too early to comment or give out details." He also refused to name the consultant being appointed.
On speculations that MTNL was about to get a pan-India mobile licence from the department of telecommunication, Gopal said, "I don't think government will give MTNL the nod for pan India operation."
The company plans to invest Rs1,500 crore this calendar to expand GSM and broadband operations. It currently offers services in Nepal and Mauritius, besides Delhi and Mumbai.
It will increase broadband capacity by 10 lakh connections - scalable to 20 lakh - across Delhi and Mumbai from 5.5 lakh connections now.
A major expansion of the GSM network in Mumbai is also on the cards.
Analyst Devyani Javeri of Edelweiss Securities said in a research report recently that "core business growth opportunities remain limited for MTNL. Slow pace of mobility subscriber accretions coupled with a stagnant wireline subscriber base makes MTNL a relatively less attractive play in the Indian telecom space."
At Rs 4,923.4 crore, MTNL's topline for the quarter ended December (Q3) was down 3.4% YoY and 0.7% QoQ. However, thanks to a 30% YoY jump in other income, the net profit was up 10.8% YoY at Rs 643.1 crore.
r_mithun@dnaindia.net
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