New Delhi, Aug 07: Government is considering a handsome financial compensation for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd in lieu of giving the lucrative Maharashtra circle to Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. According to highly placed sources in the Ministry of Communication, the government is actively considering this proposal in the wake of anticipated opposition from BSNL’s senior technical staff.

"This will be a win-win situation for both PSUs... except for senior technocrats in BSNL, the solution is likely to find acceptability amongst others," Department of Telecommunication (DoT) officials said.

Minister for Communication and IT Arun Shourie had earlier indicated that MTNL was not able to grow to its potential as its operations were limited to only two circles of Delhi and Mumbai. When contacted, dot secretary and telecom commission chairman Vinod Vaish told a news agency "The department is considering various options in this regard and no final decision has yet been taken."

He, however, declined to elaborate on the options being considered by DoT.

According to sources in BSNL, Maharashtra constitutes one of its most remunerative circles and giving away Maharashtra to MTNL may affect BSNL's financials adversely.

Government should weigh all the aspects before finalising its views on the issue, they said. Bureau Report