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CAG loss estimate on BSNL-RJIL deal misread, correction done: MoS Telecom
The CAG report tabled in Parliament in April had said the government suffered a loss of ₹1,757.56 crore as state-owned telecom firm BSNL failed to bill Reliance Jio for 10 years since May 2014 as per their agreement on passive infrastructure sharing.
"BSNL has Master Service Agreements (MSAs) with M/s RJIL, for leasing of BSNL's tower infrastructure to install their equipment. There is no revenue loss to BSNL and government. The estimate of CAG was based on the misinterpretation of the clause of add-on technology, which has now been rectified in a transparent and equitable manner. BSNL has since raised the revised invoices from RJIL," Minister of State for Telecom, Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said in the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
On measures taken by the government to fix accountability, recover losses and prevent recurrence of such lapses in the functioning of BSNL, Pemmasani said actions such as resolving the ambiguity in agreement clauses, monetisation of surplus inventory, issuance of revised demands and recovery have been taken.
"Further, PSUs have been advised to timely process bills and be extra cautious while taking policy/business decisions," he said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Indian Express
9 minutes ago
- Indian Express
No consensus is the new normal: Op Sindoor debate reveals Govt-Opposition divide runs deep
The rare political consensus in the country in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent military conflict with Pakistan was short-lived, fracturing with the surprise announcement of the ceasefire on May 10. And the special discussion in Parliament this week has only deepened the bitterness between the Treasury and the Opposition benches, with the political class deeply divided on the key issue of national security after the marathon three-day debate. The discussion in both Houses presented an opportunity to the government and the Opposition to show a semblance of unity and reflect a common resolve against terrorism emanating from Pakistan. While almost every second speaker spoke about the need for talking in one voice, a look at the speeches from both sides of the aisle shows that consensus is a rare commodity in 'New India', and that is perhaps the new normal. The only common element in all the speeches was the praise of the valour of the security forces, now a political prerequisite. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not reply to the debate in Rajya Sabha and fielded Union Home Minister Amit Shah, prompting an Opposition walkout. The needle moved a lot from the government's point of view. It believes that the Home Minister's announcement of the gunning down of the Pahalgam terrorists, the PM's emphatic assertion that 'no leader in the world asked India to stop its military operation (Sindoor)', and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankhar's candid statement about the government's differences with the US on Pakistan and that New Delhi had taken up every issue it has with Washington DC — including the deportation of Indians, visas and the cause of students — have put an end to all questions and speculation surrounding Operation Sindoor and the US role. The Opposition, however, is not satisfied. While Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's dare to the PM to show 'courage' and declare US President Donald Trump a liar if he was not speaking the truth was plain political rhetoric, the Opposition believes Modi and the government ducked vital questions: on security and intelligence failure that resulted in the Pahalgam attack, fixing of accountability in that context, the losses suffered by the Indian Air Force, and Trump's role. While the PM skipped any mention of Trump and his repeated assertions of having brokered the ceasefire, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh danced around the issue of the fighter jets lost on the first day of the conflict, saying, 'In any exam, the result matters. We should see whether a student is getting good marks in an exam and not focus on whether his pencil was broken or the pen was lost.' To keep the pressure on the government, the Congress raised its nationalist pitch. Right from Gandhi to other leaders, the refrain was that the government should not have agreed to halt the military action, given its claim that Pakistan was asking for a ceasefire. Uncharacteristic of the Congress, but the party believes it can score a political point or two over the government by taking this stance. But as is its wont, former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks that those behind the Pahalgam attack could be homegrown terrorists and 'there is no evidence' they came from Pakistan gave the government ample political opportunity to once again box the party into a corner. Gandhi's speech was spirited and so was that of Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, his sister, who reminded the government of the resignations of Vilasrao Deshmukh as Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shivraj Patil as Union Home Minister after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Gandhi was scathing in his attack on the PM. 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The Congress, expectedly, carries a lot of baggage. And not surprisingly, its leaders, apart from the mention of Indira Gandhi, were focused on trying to pin down the government on the issues at hand. The government, apart from chest thumping over Operation Sindoor, singled out the Congress, reeling out incidents from history. While other INDIA bloc parties were on the same page as the Congress in targeting the government, none came to the Congress's rescue while it faced the brunt of the BJP attack.
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First Post
39 minutes ago
- First Post
This Week in Explainers: Can India do without Russian oil amid Trump threats?
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Business Standard
40 minutes ago
- Business Standard
RailTel Corp bags Rs 166-cr service order from BSNL
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