New Delhi: The government has appointed Robert Jerard Ravi as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), effective from 15th July. Former CMD Pravin Kumar Purwar had applied for an extension, which was denied. He completed his tenure on 14th July. “The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will officially confirm the appointment of Robert J. Ravi as the new CMD of BSNL in some time. There is no decision to extend the tenure of the present CMD,” a government source said.

Ravi has previously served as Additional General Manager in BSNL. An Indian Telecom Service officer, Ravi has 34 years of experience in the telecom sector. Currently, he is serving as Deputy Director General at DoT and before that he was serving as the Advisor (Consumer Affairs and Quality of Services) at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He was involved in laying down the standards of quality of services to be provided by the service providers. His division was also responsible for the regulated growth of value-added services. Ravi is a gold medallist in Engineering from Pondicherry University and holds an MBA in International Business.

BSNL is currently laden with debt as it is executing a transition from 4G to 5G, serving as a crucial and challenging time for the new Chairman and Managing Director. As of the October-December 2023 quarter, BSNL’s consolidated net loss had risen to Rs. 1,569 crore from Rs. 1,481 crore in the preceding quarter. The higher sequential loss was largely attributed to an increase in salary bills, depreciation and amortisation expenses, licence and spectrum fees, loss allowance of disputed bills, bad debt write-off, and expenses on construction contracts.