  The Telecom Commission on Tuesday gave go-ahead to a Rs. 1,500 crore subsidy to state owned BSNL to support its rural landline operations.
This is in line with the TRAI recommendation which had suggested that Rs 2,700 crore should be given to BSNL as operations in rural areas don’t generate enough revenues. It had suggested that subsidy be given in two installments-1,500 crore for 2011-12 and for 2012-13 Rs 1,250 crore.
The subsidy will be paid out of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. BSNL had demanded Rs. 2,580 crore per from the government to support its rural operations.
According to Chairman and Secretary (Telecom) R Chandrashekhar, commission’s recommendations have been forwarded to Department of Telecommunications (DoT). |