The government’s own is making a move. BSNL has seen its topline go up by some 19 per cent to Rs 25,000 crore over a two-year span, thanks to a few well-aimed changes and 4G being put in place. The figures, put out on May 25, 2026, are a sign of things to come for its private peers and for anyone looking for value.
Why BSNL’s rise matters now
It comes down to price and where you can be found. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, the Minister of State for Communications, puts it this way: BSNL’s rates are no contest with what the private sector is offering. They’ve even put out one rupee SIMs through India Post to make it easy for people to give it a try.
And then there is the countryside. Postal men are going door-to-door to let people in on the better service, which in some villages is all there is. That kind of access, for the right price, can change the dynamic in markets that have been left behind.
Inside the turnaround: targets, uptime and costs
Pemmasani will tell you these are the fruits of a review he and Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Communications Minister, put in place. They have put down circle-wise goals for both the mobile and enterprise side of things. The idea is to close the gaps on reliability and trim the fat on operations.
Take Andhra Pradesh. Uptime was at 75 per cent, so they made 95 per cent the new benchmark. They have been out in the field replacing 50,000 batteries, overhauling power plants and putting in new cabling. You can’t have a commercial story without the network to back it up.
This is how the reset has been put in motion:
– Put up the bar for uptime in every circle
– See to it that the power side is in order
– Have sales targets for the state and the circle
The numbers behind the shift
The books don’t lie. In a statement, Pemmasani described the turn as ‘striking’. He noted the climb from Rs 21,000 crore to the current Rs 25,000 crore – a solid 20-25 per cent in the space of two years.
The bottom line has moved even more. EBITDA has gone from a mere Rs 50 crore to in the region of Rs 7,000 crore. It shows you are running a tighter ship and getting closer to break-even. All the work on cost and uptime is coming through in the cash flow.
If you look at it year on year, BSNL had an income of Rs 23,427 crore in FY25 versus Rs 21,302 crore in FY24. Depending on how you read the reports, the trend is what the minister is talking about: a steady lift.
Some of the standouts from the officials’ side:
– Revenue at Rs 25,000 crore
– EBITDA in the neighbourhood of Rs 7,000 crore
– An FY25 income of Rs 23,427 crore
Indigenous 4G as strategic moat
Then there is the tech. BSNL has put its own 4G on 1,00,000 towers in a year and honed it to a fine point. Pemmasani is not one to mince words when it comes to domestic know-how; he sees it as a point of pride.
He says we are in the company of only four other nations to have built 4G of this calibre at home. For BSNL, it means they call the shots on the rollout and can stay true to national aims, on top of the price game they are already in.
What comes next
Now the onus is on the ground. With the circles given their marching orders on sales and network health, BSNL is counting on the fact that a good tariff, a one rupee SIM from the post office and a network that doesn’t let you down will turn a prospect into a customer.
The message from the minister is unambiguous: we are in the middle of a commercial retool. Keep up the 4G and the uptime, and you will see the distance to the private players close in the areas that count – for the user who wants to be covered, and to be covered well.
