State owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) slashed its ISD rates by 15-35 percent to some of the member countries of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The new prices will be operational from Saturday onwards.

BSNL mobile and landline owners will be able to make a call to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan at lower rates.

In ‘post paid plan 725’, the users will make calls at Rs. 9 per minute instead of at present Rs.10 and under ‘post paid’ and ‘pre-paid’ plans the prices will be slashed to Rs.9 per minute from Rs.12 per minute whereas the BSNL fixed line users can call at Rs.9.60 per minute instead of present Rs.12 a minute.

The telecom industry also proposes to cut call rates to Middle Eastern countries.