Govt to electrify 10K mobile towers to cut down diesel use

The Department of Telecom today said it is working on electrifying 10,486 mobile towers from power grid in order to reduce diesel consumption on cell sites.
The department said that the project is being undertaken in coordination with the Ministry of Power, NITI Aayog, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and telecom industry for electrification of non-electrified telecom towers under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY).
"Around 10,486 non-electrified mobile towers spread across the country are being taken up under this scheme and significant progress is achieved in electrification of non- electrified towers of BSNL and other telecom service providers," DoT said in a statement.

It added that out of total number of towers planned, 5,334 have been electrified.
"As many as 4,796 (out of total 9,447) towers pertaining to TAIPA and 538 (out of total 1,039) towers of BSNL were electrified by March 31, 2017," the statement said.
The electrification shall ensure power supply to telecom tower and thereby reduce the diesel consumption at the BTS tower site, it said.