Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today blamed previous UPA government for heavy losses at state-run BSNL in recent years.
Talking to reporters here on the status of BSNL, he said when NDA regime ended in 2004, BSNL had made a profit of Rs 10,000 crore.
But after 10 years of UPA rule, BSNL's loss was estimated to be around Rs 8,000 crore due to the 'non-performance' of Manmohan Singh government, he alleged.
Now after one year and eight months of NDA rule, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BSNL for the first time had an operative profit of Rs 672 crore, he claimed.
To prove his point that BSNL was moving on the right track, Prasad noted that BSNL which was adding six to seven lakh mobile lines per month, had reported 20 to 22 lakh connections in February last.
Modernisation was underway in BSNL, with 21,000 towers already in place and another 21,000 in the offing. It was also proposed to have 40,000 wi-fi hot spots in another two years, he added.
"In one year and eight months, we have brought BSNL on par with private players and is in the process of turnaround," Prasad said.
