Public sector telecom company BSNL is in talks with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to sell its assets. A senior telecom department official said on Wednesday that BSNL is set to raise about Rs 300 crore by selling assets in 2020. The official said that the Department of Telecommunications is working on the suggestions of the Finance Ministry, which also has plans to issue sovereign guarantee bonds. This bond is likely to be issued in early February this year.

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The voluntary retirement going on in BSNL and MTNL has been very successful and this will reduce BSNL's salary expenditure by 50%, while MTNL will save 75%. The Department of Telecom official said that the government will give a sovereign guarantee on the company's 15,000 crore bond. This means that even if the company goes bankrupt for some reason, the investors will be paid in full after the maturity period. A letter has been written to the Finance Ministry in this regard and a bond can be issued as soon as possible.

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The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Deepam) under the Ministry of Finance of India is marking the properties of BSNL for sale. For its disinvestment, the company is negotiating with many institutions including CBSE. BSNL and MTNL, which have been in deficit for 9 years out of the last 10, are aiming to raise Rs 37,500 crore from disinvestment in the next 3 years.

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