Govt to pay MTNL's bond interest payment again, say DoT officials

But the government is unwilling to pay for loans taken by MTNL, say sources

The government will again step in and pay for state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited’s (MTNL) upcoming interest payment on bonds issued by it, officials from the Department of Telecommu­nications (DoT) have said.

The latest tranche of the interest is up for payment on September 24. Over the weekend, MTNL informed the exchanges it is unable to pay the interest amount owing to insufficient funds.
 

The officials said the government will deposit the necessary funds for the third semi-annual interest (7.75 per cent) on certain bonds later this week. This will be the second consecutive incidence of