MTNL to get Rs 1,233cr tax refund

MTNL will soon reap a windfall tax refund of Rs 1,233 crore as the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has directed the income tax department to refund Rs 956 crore as tax and Rs 277 crore as interest.

Anita Soni, director (finance) of MTNL, said: "We expect to get the amount in the current financial year. As far as utilisation is concerned, I am looking at various options. We have 16.3 lakh GSM subscribers. The segment is expanding very fast and requires lots of funds."

MTNL had been pursuing the case against the department before the appellate tribunal on allowing licence fee as an expense for running the business.