BSNL to invest Rs 932 cr in Maharashtra circle

BSNL will invest Rs 932 cr for infrastructure development, even as it expects a 17.4% increase in revenues by Mar from the circle.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is to invest around Rs 932 crore for infrastructure development in Maharashtra circle, even as the telecom services provider is expecting to post a 17.4 per cent increase in revenues to post Rs 3,075 crore by March 2004 from the circle.

"The investment, which is in line with our plans to stay ahead of competition, will be used for building a robust infrastructure and addition of the latest technology," BSNL chief general manager RN Bharadwaj told reporters on Friday.

The telecom companies Maharashtra circle comprises Maharashtra and Goa, but excludes Mumbai.

The company would invest around Rs 328 crore for upgrading its Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) infrastructure, Rs 154 crore for its Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Rs 550 crore for other infrastructure, including that of its Internet and fixed-line operations, he said.

The investments would be used to strengthen BSNL's Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) and to automation system, apart from using it for procurement of other telephony equipment, Bharadwaj said.

On expectations of an increase in revenues by 17.4 per cent, the CGM said BSNL expects to post Rs 2,650 from basic services during the fiscal, compared to Rs 2,474 crore registered in the last fiscal.

The company which was a late entrant to GSM services and had posted only Rs 24 crore in revenues during the previous fiscal, Bharadwaj said, adding, this would touch a Rs 200 crore mark by the end of the fiscal.