Telecom Lead India: Indus Towers CEO BS Shantharaju said 20 percent of its 110,000 telecom towers will be using renewable energy sources by March 2013.

“We want to reduce our reliance on diesel. It is costly and non-viable. As our commitments toward green initiatives, 20 percent of our towers will be using renewable energy sources by the current fiscal end,” said BS Shantharaju, CEO, Indus Towers.

Indus Towers is a joint venture between Bharti Group, Vodafone Group, and Aditya Birla Group.

With a portfolio of more than 110,000 towers, Indus is the largest telecom tower company in the world. It has a presence in the 16 major telecom circles of India.

However, Shantharaju did not share more details about Indus Tower’s plans to achieve carbon emission targets.

In 2011, Indus Towers announced its commitment on reduction in Carbon footprint and living the value of Environment through Green Initiatives under its national campaign – Indus Carbon Abatement Program. As a part of the company’s commitment towards environment and reduction in carbon footprint, ‘The Green City’ was conceptualized in early 2011.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace, which has been asking tower companies to go green, has welcomed TAIPA’s decision to initiate a pilot on 1000 mobile towers powered by renewable energy.

The association has also committed to come up with a roadmap to rollout renewable energy in its network towers based on the assessment of this pilot project, by March 2013. This commitment will help the industry to implement the Green Telecom Directive issued by the Department of Telecommunication earlier this year.

The implementation of the green telecom directive will result in a saving of INR 80, 000 crore over a period of 8 years for the telecom sector.

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