BSNL posts sharp turnaround with Rs 25,000 crore revenue milestone

NEW DELHI: After years of dropped signals and fading relevance, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is attempting a comeback story that the government says is finally connecting both balance sheets and villages.

According to Ministry of Communications, BSNL’s revenue has climbed from Rs 21,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore over the past two years, marking a growth of nearly 20 to 25 per cent as the state-run telecom operator pushes ahead with infrastructure upgrades, indigenous 4G deployment and rural connectivity projects.

Speaking to DD India, minister of state for communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani described the revival as one of the government’s most significant public sector turnaround efforts under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“BSNL was facing challenges across work culture, ageing infrastructure and tower performance. We approached the revival with systematic rigour and private-sector discipline,” Pemmasani said.

The operational improvement appears sharpest at the profitability level. BSNL’s EBITDA reportedly surged from just Rs 50 crore to nearly Rs 7,000 crore during the same period, signalling stronger efficiency and reduced operational leakages.

The minister outlined several steps behind the turnaround, including replacing 50,000 batteries across telecom towers, upgrading power systems and improving network uptime in states such as Andhra Pradesh, where tower availability had reportedly fallen to 75 per cent.

Alongside infrastructure fixes, the government has also accelerated the rollout of indigenous 4G technology. According to Pemmasani, BSNL has deployed homegrown 4G services across 100,000 towers within a year, positioning India among a small group of countries capable of developing deep indigenous telecom technology.

“We have now perfected it to near-global standards,” the minister said.

The government is also leaning heavily on affordability and rural outreach to rebuild public trust in the telecom operator.

BSNL is distributing Re 1 SIM cards through India Post offices while using postal workers to spread awareness about improved services in villages and remote regions.

One of the government’s biggest connectivity pushes has focused on approximately 35,000 villages that previously lacked reliable telecom access due to terrain challenges, commercial viability issues or left-wing extremism.

Pemmasani said around 25,000 towers have already been installed in these regions, with another 10,000 currently under development.

The minister also linked improved connectivity with national security outcomes, particularly in regions affected by extremism.

In areas such as Narayanpur, he said improved telecom access has enabled faster communication with authorities and strengthened local governance.

“Once connectivity reaches these regions, development follows, and extremism fades,” Pemmasani said.

Running parallel to BSNL’s revival is the government’s ambitious BharatNet project, which aims to extend high-speed fibre connectivity to every Gram Panchayat.

The government plans to invest nearly Rs 1,40,000 crore into the initiative, with an initial target of connecting 1.5 crore rural households. At present, around 15 lakh households are connected.

For the government, the revival of BSNL is being framed as more than a telecom success story. Officials say it reflects a broader attempt to modernise public institutions while strengthening digital access across India’s most underserved regions.

Summing up his vision for the company over the next five years, Pemmasani chose three words: “Trustworthy, proud, and profitable.”