BSNL has earned operating profit of Rs 672 cr: Prasad

Telecom Minister Ravishankar Prasad said state-run BSNL has earned an operating profit of Rs 672 crore for the first time in seven years and expressed confidence for better performance by the end of this fiscal.

"BSNL was incurring Rs 8,000 crore loss in 2014. But, today it has earned an operating profit of Rs 672 crore in just one and half years time," Prasad said while addressing a 'Vikas Parv' function organised to mark the completion of two years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

The Minister expressed confidence that the public sector telecom company would earn an operating profit of Rs 2,000 crore in this financial year.

"The objective of the Modi government is to see governance in the hands of the people, which is possible through Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and mobile phone. The identity of the Modi government is, in a country with 125 crore population, 102 crore have access to mobile phones, 101 crore have Aadhaar and 40 crore have access to Internet," he said.

The role of middlemen has come to an end after the government decided to link Jan Dhan Yojana with Aadhar, while mobile phones keep people updated with information, he said.

Referring to the turnaround of BSNL, he said it happened because the government's motto was to "serve people with smile." "The Modi government believes that it can progress discharging its social responsibility and this is the reason the telecommunication department has started installing mobile towers in Maoist-affected areas," Prasad said.

"We are running these mobile towers with solar energy, helping people use mobile phones," the Minister said appealing the Maoists to shun violence.

BSNL had registered a profit of Rs 10,000 crore under Atal Bihari Vajpayee till 2004, but recorded a loss of Rs 8,000 crore during the ten year rule of the UPA, Prasad added.