BSNL gets Rs 47K-cr capex push
'We have another close to Rs47,000 crore capex plan in place for BSNL. Meanwhile, BSNL has done its highest-ever capex of Rs25,000 crore during last year,' the DoT said, quoting Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
IT firm TCS and a C-DoT-led consortium had bagged the majority of the Rs25,000 crore project for the supply of telecom gear to BSNL.
Scindia has asked state-run telecom firm BSNL to add customers and grow its mobile service business by 50 per cent over the next year. During a review meeting with BSNL's circle and business unit heads last month, Scindia asked each unit to increase enterprise business by 25-30 per cent and fixed line business by a minimum of 15-20 per cent. The minister has asked BSNL to increase its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) -- a key metric for a telecom company's growth -- by improving customer satisfaction and adding more subscribers.
BSNL's APRU varies from circle to circle, ranging from around Rs40 to over Rs175 in others. Reliance Jio posted an ARPU of Rs208, while Airtel posted an ARPU of Rs250 for the June quarter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Texas Blames ESG Efforts in Probe of Xcel Over 2024 Wildfires
(Bloomberg) -- The Texas attorney general is investigating utility Xcel Energy Inc. and its contractor for two wildfires that devastated the state last year, saying the companies may have prioritized environmental and diversity goals over maintenance and safety. 'It is unconscionable that utility companies might have sacrificed infrastructure maintenance, public safety and the well-being of our Texas communities for radical ESG and DEI goals,' Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Friday. Xcel shares fell as much as 4.5% after the investigation was announced before rebounding, and were down 1.8% to $71.06 at 11:56 a.m. in New York. Xcel has acknowledged that its infrastructure was likely involved in starting the the Smokehouse Creek fire, which charred more than 1 million acres in the Texas Panhandle, destroying ranches and killing thousands of livestock animals and two people. However, the company has disputed that its power lines sparked the nearby Windy Deuce blaze, the other incident Texas cited in its investigation. Climate change has ripened conditions for more frequent and devastating wildfires. Across the US, utilities have been facing mounting pressure to better protect their equipment. And while power companies have been found to cause blazes in recent years, there's no evidence that's come because of prioritizing other initiatives. The attorney general's offices issued civil investigative demand letters to Xcel, its utility Southwestern Public Service Co. and its contractor Osmose Utilities Services. An Xcel representative didn't immediately provide a statement, while an Osmose representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Republican-led states have targeted companies and financial institutions for adopting environmental, social and governance policies, or ESG, that limit business with the firearms or fossil fuels industries. They've also criticized diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI. Texas restricts government work with companies that discriminate against firearms entities or boycott oil and gas companies. The ESG push at investment firms, pension funds and law practices has faded somewhat, partly because of efforts to avoid attacks by President Donald Trump and Republicans. Xcel has set a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, which is common among utility companies. The company faces lawsuits from victims of the Smokehouse fire, and is set to go to trial next month over its role in the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado, which it denies sparking. --With assistance from Amanda Albright. More stories like this are available on
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
RVNL targets to launch first Vande Bharat Sleeper train prototype in June 2026; to deliver full 120 train sets by 2032
Vande Bharat Sleeper trains: The Ministry of Railways is working in full swing to ramp up the production of Vande Bharat Sleeper trains. For this, the national transporter awarded the contract to manufacture Vande Bharat Sleeper trains to three companies: BEML, Kinet Railway Solutions (a Joint Venture between Russian rolling stock major TMH and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited – RVNL) and a consortium of Titagarh Rail Systems Limited and Bharat Heavy Engineering Limited (BHEL). Of these, the RVNL-led JV is set to manufacture 120 Vande Bharat Sleeper train sets. The company is expected to unveil the first prototype in June 2026. 'All the roadblocks have been cleared and now it is in advance designing stage and production has started in Latur factory. And we hope to see the first prototype in June '26. And after that, the regular production will start,' MP Singh, Director-Operations, RVNL said, according to an exchange filing. Once the trials are successful and proving trials are held and the prototype is cleared, the regular production will start. 'So, in the next financial year, that is Financial Year '26-27, along with the prototype, we expect to see the regular production of the train sets also,' he said in an earnings conference call on August 12. Speaking during the earnings conference call, Pradeep Gaur, Chairman and Managing Director, RVNL said that the order of 120 train sets will be concluded by 2032. '2032, 5 years total. There is a break up of year wise,' Gaur said, while responding to a question, according to a regulatory filing.
Mint
3 hours ago
- Mint
Bhavish Aggarwal sets bold targets on I-Day fifth year in a row, but delivery remains patchy. Here's Ola's track record
Mumbai: Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric, which makes key product and strategy announcements on the eve of Independence Day every year, on Friday said the company is eyeing a new motorcycle called Diamondhead by mid-2027 that would 'revolutionize" the industry, even as it grapples with missed targets, scaled-down ambitions and a volatile stock since its debut last year. The company aims to deck the motorcycle with its in-house artificial intelligence (AI) chips, battery cells, airbags and new materials, with a target price of ₹5 lakh. Aggarwal called the motorcycle, which was first showcased as a concept two years ago, Ola Electric's new moonshot project. 'We showed you a concept two years ago. Many people thought it would remain a concept. But here it is – it has become a prototype now," a white kurta-clad Aggarwal said at an event at Ola Electric's factory at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu on Friday. While the markets will price the announcements into the company's stock on Monday, Ola's record of delivering on its 15 August promises and ambitions over the past four years has been patchy. The company achieved some of its targets, albeit with significant delays, but it has also abandoned or scaled down many others. For instance, a determined Aggarwal made a bold pitch in his first Independence Day announcements in 2021 that Ola Electric would lead an EV-revolution, phasing out the sale of new petrol two-wheelers from India by 2025. In fiscal year 2025 (FY25), petrol two-wheelers continued to rule the roost, with electric vehicles accounting for just 5.8% of all two-wheeler sales. However, Ola Electric did lead the pack in electrification of two-wheelers, accounting for almost 30% of the 1.1 million such vehicles sold in FY25. In August 2022, the company promised to set up a battery innovation centre to make the cells that power its vehicles in-house. The centre was built in time and, despite some delays, the company has managed to start the production of its 4680 Bharat Cell by April this year. But the company is yet to ship any vehicles fitted with these cells, running several months behind schedule. On Friday, Aggarwal said that deliveries of Ola scooters fitted with in-house cells will start by late September. Some of Aggarwal's promises were too ambitious to even partly deliver. For instance, he promised in his 2022 address that the company will have an electric car by 2024. The project has been put on indefinite hold. The company also scaled down some of its ambitions. For instance, it said in August 2024 that it would ramp up the annual cell production capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2026 and 100 gigawatts by 2030. However, the plan was later scaled down. Now the company will keep its cell manufacturing capacity - starting at 1 gigawatt this fiscal - limited to 5 gigawatts till at least 2029. On Friday, Ola also unveiled India's first indigenously developed ferrite motor that uses no rare-earth magnets, which will help it overcome the crisis triggered by China restricting its export of rare-earth magnets. These magnets are crucial for making motors for EVs. The motors will power Ola's vehicles starting from the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 (Q3FY26), the company claimed. The integration of cells, motors and other key components in-house helps the company eke out better margins, Aggarwal said. 'I want to tell the street that we are making a lot of money from these products. The advantage of doing all these technologies in-house is that we make a lot of margins." Other key announcements on Friday include the launch of S1 Pro Sport, the most powerful Ola scooter till date. Deliveries are planned to start next January. The company did not give any significant updates on its AI and chip-making plans, which were one of the key highlights from Ola's independence day announcements last year. The runup to this year's Ola Sankalp 2025 was a period of uncertainties for the start up. In February, the company terminated the contracts of two of its registration agencies, which led to a backlog of more than 16,000 vehicles for registrations, leading to delays in deliveries. The company was taken to the National Company Law Tribunal by one of the agencies, following which Ola settled the issue with the agencies. Since then, the company has been handling the registration process on its own. The delay in registrations and discrepancy of sales data with the government's Vahan data led to two ministries – heavy industries and road transport & highways – asking tough questions of the company. Amid all this, customer complaints against Aggarwal's company continued to appear on social media platforms due to service issues. Addressing servicing issues was made tough by state authorities in big markets like Maharashtra acting against the stores of the company. Last month, Maharashtra ordered shuttering of around 90% of the stores in the state owing to lack of trade certificates. The company denied receiving any such notification. The series of events that unfolded in the first eight months of this year has wiped out more than 50% of the company's share value. The Ola Electric stock, which listed on 7 August 2024, has touched a high of ₹157.53 and a low of ₹39.58 since then, compared to its offer price of ₹76 per share. It closed 2% higher on Thursday at ₹41.32.
