MTNL surges as government plans to revive telecom PSUs

MUMBAI: Shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) surged in trade after the government said it will take steps to revive ailing telecom PSUs MTNL and BSNL.

Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that steps will be taken on a priority basis to revive the two PSUs that have failed to ride the boom in the Indian telecom sector even as private operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea grew from strength to strength.

"I have found that MTNL and BSNL have not received as much attention as required. They need proper infrastructure support," ET quoted Prasad.

The minister also urged the PSUs to lay a special emphasis on improving their services. "I have asked them to improve services for consumer satisfaction. The government will provide infrastructure support."

At 09:35 a.m.; the stock was at Rs 33.85, up 6.45 per cent, on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 34.65 and a low of Rs 32.10 in trade today.