The inter-ministerial body Telecom Commission on Tuesday approved a subsidy of Rs. 1,500 crore for supporting landline operations of BSNL in rural areas.
"The support for BSNL for the first year has been agreed and certain other information has been sought from them," commission's
Chairman and Secretary (Telecom) R Chandrashekhar said here.
He added that the subsidy worth Rs. 1,500 crore has been approved by the commission out of total proposed subsidy of Rs. 2,750 crore for supporting rural landline connections installed before April 1, 2002.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommended Rs. 2,750 crore for two years which included Rs. 1,500 crore for the first year and Rs. 1,250 crore for the second year.
The state-run telecom operator had requested support of Rs. 2,580 crore per year for the same.
Chandrashekhar said that the commission has given its recommendation and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will have to work on it.