Question : Green Energy for Towers

(a) whether the Government proposes to establish cell phone towers in rural and remote areas powered by Green/Renewable energy services to improve the village connectivity especially in the naxal-hit areas;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of mobile towers so powered installed in the country, State and operator-wise;

(d) the time line fixed by the Government to achieve the target; and

(e) whether the Government is providing any incentive to telecom operators for connecting their towers to Green technology and if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) to (c) 1836 new mobile towers based on solar energy are being setup in ten left wing extremist affected States. The work is being executed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). As on 21.11.2016, 1831 new mobile towers out of 1836 have been made functional. Further, BSNL has set up 119 mobile towers powered by Solar energy at different locations in the country under other scheme such as Jawahar Lal Nehru Solar Mission etc. State-wise break-up is at Annexure.

(d) Based on the recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), DoT has issued directions for implementation of Green Technologies in Telecom Sector, whereby 75 percent of rural towers are to be powered by hybrid power [Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) + Grid Power] by 2020.

(e) No, Madam.




ANNEXURE

State-wise breakup of mobile tower locations with Green/ Renewable Energy
<pre>
S. No. State No. of towers powered by solar energy set up by BSNL No. of towers powered by solar energy under LWE project
1. Andhra Pradesh 0 40
2. Bihar 1 184
3. Chhattisgarh 1 146
4. Jharkhand 1 782
5. Maharashtra 1 57
6. Madhya Pradesh 0 16
7. Odisha 1 248
8. Telangana 0 184
9. Uttar Pradesh 6 78
10. West Bengal 3 96
11 Gujarat 1 0
12 Haryana 4 0
13 Himachal Pradesh 19 0
14 Jammu & Kashmir 16 0
15 Karnataka 4 0
16 Kerala 3 0
17 Punjab 4 0
18 Rajasthan 5 0
19 Tamil Nadu 4 0
20 North East 19 0
21 Uttarakhand 26 0
Total 119 1831
</pre>


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