Can new CMD PK Purwar revive MTNL?

FINALLY the state-run telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has got its regular CMD as the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of PK Purwar to the post for five years.
Purwar is currently working as director (finance) in MTNL, which has been without a full-time CMD since May 31, 2014, following superannuation of A K Garg.
Purwar held the additional charge of the post of MTNL CMD between June 2014 and June 2015. In June 2016, Purwar was again given this additional charge.
A process has been underway for long time to find a new...
head of the loss-making telecom PSU and a search-cum-selection committee was earlier constituted under the chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) for the appointment.
He was appointed to the top post of MTNL after Narendra Kumar Yadav relinquished the top post on completion of his tenure.
“Narendra Kumar Yadav has relinquished the charge of CMD of the company w.e.f. 8 June 2016. P.K. Purwar, director (finance), MTNL, has been entrusted with the additional charge of the post of CMD,” MTNL said in a filing to the BSE.
Yadav is a member (services) department of telecom. Interestingly, Purwar’s name had been recommended for the MTNL’s top post by the public enterprises selection board (PESB) in November 2013, but the government did not go ahead with the recommendation.
MTNL, which offers telecom services in Delhi and Mumbai circles, has been incurring huge losses since 2009-10. The PSU posted a consolidated net loss of Rs.2012.24 crore for year ended 31 March 2016, against that of Rs.2901.16 crore at the end of March 2015.
The telecom firm, however, expects to post operational profit at the end of the current financial year and turn profitable in 2017-18. At the end of March 2016, the company had 356,085 wireless subscribers and 3,504,088 wireline users, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s data.
One of the toughest challenges for the new CMD, who is not a new task for Purwar, will be to turn MTNL profitable. MTNL has been trying hard to bring the loss making PSU out of the red. MTNL is likely to submit its revival plan to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) by August this year. “We are in advanced stages of finalizing the report on the revival plan for MTNL and will submit it to the DoT by August,” Purwar said.