MTNL shares rally 17% as board approves Rs 892 crore Powai property sale amid debt worries

Shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) surged more than 17% on Thursday after the debt-burdened telco's board approved a proposal to sell its property in Powai, Mumbai, for Rs 891.53 crore to the Income Tax (IT) department.

MTNL shares jumped to Rs 26.94 apiece on Thursday, with the stock on track to record the sharpest single-day gain in nearly 20 months since February 2025. This comes after the stock tumbled around 32% in 2026 so far and 42% in one year.

MTNL sells Powai property to IT department

The loss-making PSU announced in an exchange filing on Thursday that its board of directors have approved the proposal to sell MTNL’s property at Powai’s Technology Street with a land area of 20,895.60 square metres. This comes as the government aims to cut down the company's liabilities.


Earlier in July, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply to Parliament that MTNL’s liabilities have risen to Rs 40,000 crore in FY26 from Rs 30,960 crore in FY22. "Against total liabilities of approximately Rs 40,000 crore, MTNL holds approximately Rs 50,000 crore of non-core assets in market value terms,” he said.

The state-run company, incorporated in 1986 to provide telecom services in Delhi and Mumbai, came under severe financial and competitive stress. Scindia in July stressed that MTNL's Ebitda improved steadily from Rs 43 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 195 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 437 crore in 2025-26.

Also read | MTNL liabilities jump to ₹40,000 crore in FY26, but firm remains Ebitda positive: Jyotiraditya Scindia

The minister had explained that the government has undertaken various financial and administrative measures for MTNL, including restructuring of high-cost debt through raising of Sovereign Guarantee Bonds (SGB) of Rs 24,071 crore, funding of Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) of MTNL employees through the budgetary support of Rs. 4,327 crore, financial support of Rs 3,657.05 crore for servicing of SGB interest payments, transfer of operational activities of MTNL to BSNL through a service agreement and monetisation of MTNL assets for payment of liabilities. The latest sale of Powai property is part of this monetisation of MTNL assets to reduce debt burden.

MTNL, meanwhile, continued to lose subscribers, with its subscriber base falling by 5,900 in August, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Also read | India adds 5.5 million mobile users in August; Jio, Airtel drive bulk of gains: TRAI

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