The government on Thursday engaged telecom PSU BSNL's workers in talks for diluting 10 per cent of the firm through an initial public offer to fund expansion plans, but the employees union fiercely opposed to the plan.
"This is the first time I am talking to the BSNL union on the issue of listing after its board took a decision on the same last week. We have explained to the union on how the IPO will benefit the company," Communications Minister A Raja said after meeting the workers.
The BSNL management has also offered ownership to the employees through ESOPs once the company is listed, but he said the union still had some apprehensions about benefits of the IPO and job security - for which discussions will go on.
BSNL Chairman Kuldeep Goyal said there is no timeframe as to when the IPO will happen. "There is no immediate need for it but we are preparing the ground work already (and) we are seeing some positive reaction from the union on the issue."
He said the board is looking at a 10 per cent equity dilution, which will fetch close to 10 billion dollars as the company with 70 million subscribers has been valued at $10 billion.