'Govt looking to redevelop some post offices for leasing': Scindia

You have spent a year with the current portfolios in the current Modi dispensation. There was focus on the North-East. How do you view the progress during your tenure in the ministry?

■ PM has identified the North-East as the area with maximum focus. Since Independence, it was consistently neglected. PM has changed the paradigm and decided to make the North-East the growth engine of our development paradigm. Over the last 11 years, he has himself visited the North-East more than 70 times, which is more than all PMs together in the previous 65 years. He has ensured that the Cabinet continuously keeps in touch with the grassroots of the NorthEast. Cabinet ministers have visited the NorthEast over 700 times. Around Rs 5 lakh crore is being invested in plug and play infrastructure. There is a massive build-up in road, railway and airport infrastructure. Private companies are putting in investment. At the NorthEast Investment Summit, they committed to invest Rs 4.2 lakh crore, and I am not counting investments such as the Rs 27,000 crore for a semiconductor facility being set up by the Tata Group in Assam.

How far have you expanded the 5G coverage?

■ There has been a phenomenal change. PM had the foresight and capability to not only assess the revolution that was coming but also ensure that India leads it. It is evident from the rise in subscribers, the cost has come down for consumers. India can become the data capital of the world. We have the fastest 5G rollout with 99.6% of the districts now covered and 82% population. We have built our own 4G stack. BSNL has installed 94,500 towers and 80-85% are commissioned. We are working towards leading the world on 6G.

BSNL is seen as the next Air India. What is being done to ensure that it remains financially viable and a relevant player in the market?

■ After 18 years BSNL has done a turnaround, posting a quarterly profit for the first time since 2007. In the Dec quarter, it posted a profit of Rs 262 crore and in the March quarter, the profit was Rs 280 crore. For the full year, losses have come down 55% to Rs 2,415 crores; operating profit has more than doubled to Rs 5,395 crore. It has done the largest capex, of Rs 25,000 crore in FY25, which will be amortized over 10 years. It has rolled out 4G. We have grown our customer base, focusing on all areas and all segments.

You spoke about avoiding duopolies…

■ India is not a duopoly. We are the only few markets in the world with four players. My responsibility as the minister is to ensure that customers have choice, whether it’s internet or telecom.

Vodafone Idea is very fragile. Is there a plan for fresh support?

■ There will be no more conversion of equity. It’s the company’s management to look at their business strategy, profitability, just as the BSNL management.

You have a plan to make the postal department a profit centre. Is it really possible?

■ We have undertaken a business process reengineering and converted the department into six verticals and four horizontals looking at mail, international mail, parcels, Postal Life Insurance, post office savings bank and citizen centric services. Every transaction now has a cost structure and we are mapping the revenue. We are looking at six strategic business units with profit and loss for each. We are then determining the path to profitability for each of them. We are working on IT 2.0 and for the first time we have hired a chief technology officer with deputy CTOs for each vertical. I look at it turning into a logistics organization with a huge reach of 1.6 lakh crore post offices. The restructuring and capex by govt will hopefully turn it into a profit centre in five years. Today, our cost structure is Rs 27,000 crore and revenue is around Rs 12,000 crore.

How do you take on competition from couriers?

■ No one has the breadth and depth of India Post, even internationally. The point is how much can you push through this pipe and increase different products. We are now providing governmental services such as Aadhaar and passport. We are bringing new mail and parcel products; we will deliver within 24 hours. We are approaching mutual funds to distribute their products. There must be a mindset change and for that I am meeting the ground level staff.

Is there a plan to monetise prime real estate?

■ Whether it’s telecom or department of posts, we must sweat our assets. Therefore, if you have a large piece of land, you can have the post office on the ground floor and build the whole building and lease out space. First thing we are doing is understanding how many properties do we have, we are checking where are the title papers, the mutation details and identifying the major potential properties before we get a developer.

What is the department doing to improve the telecom services?

■ Improving the quality of service (QoS) is one of my top priorities. Trai monitors performance, issues showcause notices, and imposes penalties for non-compliance. New regulations introduced in Aug mandate Six Sigma practices and graded penalties for repeated lapses. In coordination with service providers, new sites are being added and existing infrastructure upgraded to boost internet speed and reduce congestion.