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Budget 2026: ₹28,500cr capital infusion announced for BSNL
01 Feb 2026

The Indian government has announced a massive capital infusion of ₹28,473 crore for state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in the Union Budget 2026-27.

The allocation is over a whopping 314% increase from the revised estimate of ₹6,885 crore for FY25-26.

This comes after a huge capital infusion of ₹71,940.02 crore in FY24-25 and shows the government's continued support for BSNL's network expansion and modernization efforts.

Finalizing specifications for additional 22,000 4G sites
Network growth

BSNL is on the verge of finalizing specifications for an additional 22,000 4G sites.

The company has already set up nearly one lakh 4G sites in partnership with a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-led consortium comprising Tejas Networks and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT).

In line with the government's push for a homegrown telecom stack, BSNL had placed an advance purchase order for 18,685 more sites last year to expand coverage using indigenous technology.

Proposed budgetary allocation for Ministry of Communications
Budget boost

The government has proposed a 38% increase in the allocation for the Ministry of Communications to ₹73,990 crore in the Union Budget 2026-27.

The hike is largely due to a major increase in capital support for BSNL.

The enhanced allocation will be used for various projects, including BharatNet and BSNL's capital requirements such as spectrum costs, network rollout, and internal needs.

Scindia reviews BSNL's performance circle-wise
Performance review

Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has asked BSNL to speed up subscriber additions, increase average revenue per user (ARPU), and focus on quality of service (QoS).

During a detailed circle-wise performance review, he assessed revenue targets across service verticals.

While some circles showed healthy growth in mobile subscribers and sequential improvement in ARPU, others were asked to step up corrective measures such as enhancing service offerings and customer retention.

Despite operational gains, net loss widens for BSNL
Financial outlook

Despite operational gains, BSNL posted a net loss of ₹1,357 crore in the September quarter, wider than both the previous and year-ago periods.

However, Scindia remains optimistic about the company's future prospects with this budgetary support.

He said that the proposed incremental Budget includes funds for rural broadband project BharatNet among other things.