Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
The BSNL suffered badly due to certain political parties and it was used as a "cash cow" by some people who are still members of Parliament, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a huge project worth Rs 1.64 lakh crore for the revival of BSNL, and this will transform the telecom PSU completely, the minister said in Lok Sabha. "The BSNL went through a very bad phase. Primarily due to certain political parties during UPA time. Lots of funds were diverted away," he said, amid protests by some opposition members. Time has changed, the minister said, and the BSNL will soon launch 4G and 5G networks designed, developed and made in the country as per Modi's 'Make in India' initiative. "Those times have gone when certain (former) ministers, people sitting on the other side of the aisle, used the BSNL as a cash cow," he said, pointing towards the opposition benches. Vaishnaw, however, did not name any person or political party
: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said state-owned BSNL is a strategic asset of the country and it was his mission to make it one of the top companies of India. "....It ((BSNL) is a strategic asset of the country. Standing in Tamil Nadu I need to recall when Chennai was suffering from huge floods... ultimately who came to the rescue.... BSNL. When there was a great earthquake in Nepal and when Indians were stranded there, who gave free service? BSNL," he said. The Union Minister for Communication, Electronics & IT, Law & Justice was speaking after inaugurating the cable laying work for submarine optical fibre link from Chennai to Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The total cost of the project is Rs 1,224 crore and it is being executed by BSNL. Prasad also said that during the (recent) cyclone in Odisha and floods in Kashmir,it was BSNL which came to the rescue and when there is a strategic need for the defence (sector), it is BSNL. "BSNL is not a ...