New Delhi: India’s public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the largest telephone services provider, Tuesday announced a reduction of as much as 25 percent in domestic long distance phone tariffs.

According to the new rates, to come into effect from December 15, phone calls beyond 100 km will be charged at Rs.1.80 a minute, down from Rs.2.40 a minute now, said Pirthipal Singh, chairman and managing director of BSNL.

«We expect the traffic to increase with the latest reduction that will be available to all fixed-line customers, including public call offices,» Singh told a news conference here.

BSNL also unveiled its financial results for fiscal year 2002–03 Tuesday. The company said it posted a profit of Rs.14.44 billion and turnover increased by five percent to Rs.258.92 billion.

«BSNL registered impressive growth in turnover despite a highly volatile telecom market in India, which has experienced a major decline in telecom tariff,» said Singh.

The telecom behemoth spent a total of Rs.121.08 billion in 2002–03 on telecom network expansion in different parts of the country. It added 2.2 million fixed-lines and over two million cellular connections.

The company plans to install over six million telephones, including three million cellular connections, during the current financial year, said Singh.