Parliament Question: High-level Engagement

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3984 ANSWERED ON 12TH AUGUST, 2026 HIGH-LEVEL ENGAGEMENT 3984. SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT: WILL the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state: (a) the total outstanding rental dues pending from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and BSNL for utilizing MTNL premises as of December 31, 2025 and the reasons for the prolonged delay in recovery; (b) whether it is a fact that the rental dues for DoT stand at Rs. 67,92,21,858 and BSNL stand at Rs. 223,66,06,346 and if so, the details thereof; (c) the details of the total outstanding dues from other Government bodies, public sector banks and institutions including the Sub-Registrar (Rs. 22.13 crores), Income Tax (Rs. 21.25 crores) and MNLU (Rs.18.16 crores) which bring the grand total of unrecovered rentals to Rs. 161,22,01,440.02 as of January 31, 2026; and (d) the concrete roadmap and high-level engagement strategies formulated to realize these dues from various State ministries, Mantralaya and Central departments? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a) to (d) The erstwhile Department of Posts and Telegraph was bifurcated in 1985 into the Department of Posts and the Department of Telecommunications. Subsequently, in 1986, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was incorporated and the responsibility for control, management and operation of telecommunications services in Delhi and Mumbai, which hitherto vested in the Department of Telecommunications, was entrusted to MTNL. Following the said bifurcation and entrustment of operations, the said Departments and MTNL continued to utilise space in several premises that belonged to the erstwhile undivided Department. However, the terms for such use were not decided at that time. This continued after entrustment of the remaining telecommunication services related operations of the Department of Telecommunications to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), following its incorporation in 2000. As a result, the consideration for such use of shared premises by BSNL and MTNL has not been finalised between the two, and the two have engaged in mutual discussion in this regard. The Department of Telecommunications has formed a committee consisting of officers of both the Department and MTNL to recommend on the compensation/dues payable by the Department to MTNL for space occupied by units of the Department. The total outstanding dues of MTNL from other government bodies, public sector banks and institutions, as on 31.5.2026, are to the tune of ₹155.5 crore. MTNL regularly pursues for payment of pending dues and has also carried out special drives for the same. *****