Govt loses Rs 1,757 Crore due to failure of bill to bill reliance jio for sharing infrastructure: CAG

The Central Government has lost Rs 1,757.56 crore due to non -payment of passive infrastructure of Passive Infrastructure to the government telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). This information has been given in the report of the Computer and Auditor General (CAG).

The CAG said in a statement, “BSNL has failed to implement the Master Service Agreement with Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio was not billed for almost 10 years for additional technology used on BSNL’s Shered Passive Infrastructure. This has caused a loss of Rs 1,757.56 crore to the Central Government.” Along with this, CAG has told that BSNL has also taken the infrastructure sharing charge for passive infrastructure. The statement states, “BSNL did not follow the terms and conditions of the Master Service Agreement with Reliance Jio and the condition of increasing the charge was not implemented. This has caused a loss of Rs 29 crore (BSNL) revenue (BSNL) revenue.”

Recently, the government had said that BSNL is losing revenue due to delay in launch of 4G network and strict competition in the mobile segment. Private telecom companies Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel’s 5G network exist in large parts of the country. BSNL is finding it difficult to compete with these companies. Minister of State for Telecom Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar had stated in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that BSNL has given purchase orders for one lakh sites of 4G. Of these, about 84,000 sites have been installed and 74,521 sites have started. He had said that the launch of 4G network and strict competition in the mobile segment has affected the company’s revenue.

BSNL plans to upgrade 4G network to 5G from June. India has joined five such countries in the world that have developed their 4G technology. The government aims to expand this expertise up to 5G. Recently, BSNL was approved by the central government for a funding of Rs 6,000 crore for expansion of 4G network.