He said the BSNL’s Finance Department received the direction from finance wing of the DoT to put on hold all capital expenditure. The order has asked BSNL officers to put in abeyance advance purchase orders, and purchase orders of tenders that have been already finalised till further instruction. BSNL posted operating profit of Rs 672 crore in 2014-15, Rs 3,885 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 1,684 crore in 2016-17. Like other telecom companies, BSNL too has been facing stress in revenues after new entrant Reliance Jio entered the market. BSNL Director - Finance, S K Gupta last month shot off a letter to all Chief General Managers of telecom circles, flagging the “fiercest ever competition” being faced by the telecom sector and said “predatory tariff offerings by the competitors” has triggered a sharp decline in revenue from services. While promoters of private telecom operators, including Jio, are investing thousands of crores, BSNL is awaiting government decision on allotment of 4G spectrum to compete in the market. The company is estimated to have the largest optical fibre cable network of 7.5 route kilometre that can help it build a high-speed network. However, it needs to purchase equipment to expand services. BSNL has sought government approval to monetise its real estate. However, the decision is pending with the government.
