Telecom panel meets today to debate Pitroda proposals

Even as the strike by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) employees gets under way, the Telecom Commission (TC), the policy-making wing of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), is meeting today to consider some key recommendations of the Sam Pitroda committee regarding the restructuring of the state-run service provider.

The DoT has proposed postponing its disinvestment plan. The department is of the view that the disinvestment of 30 per cent of equity shareholding of BSNL in phases, as recommended by the Sam Pitroda committee, should be done only after enhancing the PSU's enterprise value and image.

The TC will look into proposals related to the recasting of BSNL board, absorption of Indian Telecom Service (ITS) personnel, disinvestment and initial public offering and the creation of a subsidiary to hold the undeveloped land bank. Other recommendations, which pertain to business and operational matters, will be dealt with by BSNL itself, according to a DoT note.

The committee's recommendations were submitted to the prime minister's office on 9 February and the BSNL board unanimously agreed to all of them in a meeting on 10 March. They were also examined by DoT, which decided to place them before the TC.

The Pitroda committee has recommended disinvestment of 30 per cent in BSNL in stages after enhancing its enterprise value. As suggested by the Pitroda committee, DoT said it is planning to wait for fundamental changes to build the company's image before going ahead with the recommendation on IPO.

DoT, in the note prepared on Monday ahead of TC's meeting, pointed out that BSNL was already in the process of hiving off its tower business as a separate entity. ''For developing the land bank and monetising the real estate assets, first these need to be transferred to BSNL. Exercise is already going on for retention of certain assets by DoT for its field units and transferring the rest to BSNL by signing of transfer agreement,'' it said. This transfer agreement is proposed to be signed within six months.