MTNL gets shareholders' nod to raise share capital 12 times to Rs 10,000 cr

New Delhi: State-run telecom firm MTNL on Friday said its shareholders have approved proposals to raise authorised share capital by over 12 times to Rs 10,000 crore and borrowing limit by around 38 per cent to Rs 25,000 crore.

"To increase the authorised share capital of the company from Rs 800 crore to Rs 10,000 crore, a total of 99.9421 per cent shareholders voted in favour of the resolution...the following resolution was passed as a special resolution," MTNL said in a regulatory filing.

The resolution to raise the borrowing powers of the board from Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore was passed as a special resolution. "A total of 99.9203 per cent shareholders voted in favour of the resolution," it said. The decisions were taken at the company's AGM Thursday. MTNL has requested the government to grant it 4G spectrum in lieu of equity worth around Rs 6,500-7,000 crore and extend its mobile licence, which is expiring in 2019, till 2021.

MTNL Chairman and Managing Director PK Purwar had earlier said the company will need to invest Rs 1,300-1,500 crore beyond the cost of spectrum for services and capital expenditure and it plans to increase the borrowing limits of MTNL.

The union and the management of the firm requested the government to take back unutilised land and assets valued at around Rs 19,300 crore and pare its debt of around Rs 19,000 crore. The shareholders of the firm also approved raising of Rs 5,500 crore as debt by issuing non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.