Indian
telecom sector is leveraging the subsidy on diesel, resulting in an annual loss
of around Rs 2600 crore to the state exchequer, according to Greenpeace.

 

Greenpeace
recently released a report Dirty Talking – A case for telecom to shift from
diesel to renewable” exposing how the subsidy on diesel has been aggressively
exploited by the telecom sector, resulting in an annual loss of around Rs 2600
crore to the state exchequer.

 

The
report builds on the previous industry and government research which show that
at current growth rates, the sector would require 26 billion KWh of electricity
and 3 billion litres of diesel by 2012, contributing to a much larger carbon
footprint than previously estimated.

However,
the report also shows how the sector can become a transformative force by
adopting renewable energy for their business operations and advocating economy
wide climate and energy solutions.

“With
growth, the sector’s appetite for energy will increase, making it a significant
source of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions unless the industry adopts and
advocates renewable energy use and backs laws to cut global warming,” said
Mrinmoy Chattaraj, Climate and Energy campaigner, Greenpeace India and
co-author of the report.

Despite
the clear and visible benefits of shifting to renewable sources of energy the
sector has been reluctant to make this positive transition in a substantive
way.

“The
telecom sector is well positioned to transit to a low-carbon growth trajectory.
They must use their influence to promote policies that will allow them to grow
responsibly without helping to fuel climate change” Chattaraj added.

The
telecom sector in India emitted over 5.6m tonnes of CO₂ in 2008 on
as a result of diesel use. Emissions have since risen, and are likely to
increase significantly with the sector’s predicted exponential growth over the
next few years.

A
shift in power sourcing to renewable technologies, such as solar photovoltaic,
will result in a close to 300 per cent reduction in total costs (CAPEX + OPEX)
for telecom operators, in comparison to a diesel generator (DG) based tower
over ten years.

Since
the industry failed in disclosing its carbon emissions and committing to reduction
of emissions in a public and transparent manner on a consistent basis, major
telecom companies within the sector are particularly guilty of this.

Similarly,
telecom operators have yet to shift the sourcing of their power requirements to
renewable sources at scales of significance. The investment required to power
the entire network towers in the country by renewable is approximately Rs
151000 crore, which is more economically feasible than diesel based network
towers in the longer run.

By
TelecomLead.com Team

[email protected]