BSNL likely to lose Rs 1,200 cr on One India plan

State-owned telephony major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) estimates a revenue shortfall of around Rs 1,200 crore this year, if the government implements the 'One India' plan. The telecom behemoth expects the new plan to hit its long distance operations, which is its main source of revenue.

The One India plan, proposed by Communications and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran, intends to introduce a uniform tariff for all domestic calls in the country regardless of the distance.

On June 14, 2005, Maran has announced the ministry's intention of rolling out the plan. The losses will be incurred over a year from the date of implementation of the plan and is likely to continue till other measures are in place, sources in BSNL said,

quoting a letter sent to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). BSNL was also of the opinion that increasing local call rates, which are being billed at 80 paise a minute for local call up to 50 km, was an option to mitigate the revenue shortfall.

STD charges vary between Re 1 and Rs 2.65 a minute, depending on the service provider.

The public sector unit has shot off a letter to DoT, after assessing the situation and pegging the total hit to revenues at Rs 1,200 crore.

Earlier, commenting on the announcement, BSNL chairman and managing director A K Sinha had said the plan would be beneficial to customers, even though it would be affecting public sector unit's revenues.

"The given scenario of licensing and being the domestic long distance carrier, BSNL depends much on its long distance revenues. The plan will hit the company's revenues," he had told reporters in Delhi.

The Centre had addressed intra-state disparity in telephone tariffs, with DoT announcing that calls between metros and state capitals would be treated as local calls.

The scheme was also rolled out between Chennai and rest of Tamil Nadu, Kolkata and rest of West Bengal and Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra and between western and eastern Uttar Pradesh.