Telecom sector exploiting diesel subsidy, says report
May 18th, 2011 - 7:24 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, May 18 (IANS) The government subsidy on diesel has been exploited by the telecom sector, causing an annual loss of around Rs.26 billion to the exchequer, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report ‘Dirty Talking’ by environmental group Greenpeace found that the telecom sector annually consumes around 3 billion litres of subsidised diesel to power network towers.
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 liters of diesel by 2012, contributing to a much larger carbon footprint than previously estimated.
“India is now the second largest of the global telecom markets and is projected to overtake China. However, this growth has been, and continues to be, at the cost of the climate. The telecom sector in India emitted over 5.6m tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2008 as a result of diesel use,” said Abhishek Pratap, from the climate and energy division of Greenpeace.
There are over 400,000 telecom towers in India and 25 percent of them are in rural areas.
Greenpeace wrote to seven major telecom companies in India asking them to provide information about energy use but the sector was “non-transparent” on disclosing details.
However, the report also shows how the sector can become a transformative force by adopting renewable energy for its business operations.
“With growth, the sector’s appetite for energy will increase, making it a significant source of GHG emissions unless the industry adopts and advocates renewable energy use and backs laws to cut global warming,” said Mrinmoy Chattaraj, 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.
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