NEW DELHI: The government has proposed that union ministries, public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies give preference to the services of the state-run telecom operators - BSNL and MTNL.

Proposing preferential treatment to BSNL and MTNL services in Central Government Ministries/Central Government public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies to enhance the revenues earned by BSNL and MTNL,” Minister of State for Communications and IT Killi Kruparani said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

She said the government had constituted a group of ministers (GoM) on April 17, 2013 to recommend short term, medium term and long term measures for revival and revitalisation of BSNL and MTNL.

In a separate query, Kruparani said BSNL suffered a loss of Rs 7,884 crore in 2012-13 whereas MTNL’s losses stood at Rs 5,321 crore in the same period.

“The principal reasons for the rising losses of BSNL and MTNL are due to sharp decline in revenue and increase in expenditure,” she said.