India spent $33 billion trying to fix BSNL. It forgot the most important part

India spent $33 billion trying to fix BSNL. It forgot the most important part

From Daybreak by The Ken

May 28, 2026 · 10 min · Episode 760

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges faced by BSNL despite significant financial investment and the lack of stable leadership.

India has pumped over $33 billion into BSNL since 2019. But the person running the company finds out every three months if they still have the job.Multiple candidates have been interviewed for the full-time position but no one has been hired yet. The finances have improved in the last two years but the telco's market position has kept sliding. And the decisions that actually matter — where to launch 5G, which markets to chase, what kind of company BSNL even wants to be — are all waiting on a leader who might not be around to see them through. So what happens to a $33 billion bet when no one's really in charge? Tune in to find out. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Topics covered

  • BSNL
  • telecommunications
  • leadership
  • 5G
  • business investment
  • market position

Keywords

  • BSNL
  • India
  • telecommunications
  • 5G
  • business investment
  • market position
  • leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BSNL

Places: India

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