Investment Opportunities In Energy And Telecommunication Sector Of India
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    • Investment opportunities in energy and telecommunication sector of India

    Harjeet Singh

    Team Leader
    The Government of India has accepted Telecom Regualtory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendations on ‘Approach towards Green Telecommunication’ and has decided to promote the use of green energy in the telecommunication sector setting broad directions and goals to achieve desired reduction in carbon emission through use of renewable energy technologies and energy efficient equipment. Department of Telecommunications has issued directions to the licensees for implementation with immediate effect. These directions stipulate inter-alia that at least 50 per cent of all rural telecom towers and 20 per cent of the urban towers are to be powered by hybrid power (renewable energy technologies and grid power) by 2015 while 75 per cent of rural towers and 33 per cent of urban towers are to be powered by such systems by 2020.

    Telecommunication sector of India

    Telecommunication in India is the second-largest in the world with 951.3 million subscribers as of March 2012. India is expected to feature among the top 10 broadband markets by 2013.

    In terms of subscriber base, Bharti Airtel made the lead in the month of July 2012 with 188.8 million subscribers followed by Vodafone with 154.9 million. Idea Cellular added 455, 912 subscribers to have 117.6 users and State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) added 471,552 users to have 98.75 million subscribers. Tata Teleservices has a total number of 77.8 million subscribers, while Uninor has 44.5 million.

    Since the introduction of the New Telecom Policy in 1999, telecommunication in India has witnessed huge investment opportunities, especially in the wireless segment. The industry has evolved as a basic infrastructure on the similar lines of electricity, roads, water etc.

    The Government of India is also focussing on improving rural tele-density and broadband connectivity, effective expansion of the networks with efficient utilisation of scarce spectrum and ensuring equal sharing of highly capital intensive infrastructure.

    Indian Energy Sector

    The Indian energy sector is one of the most diversified sectors in the world. Energy in India is generated from commercial sources like coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro and nuclear power as well as other viable non-conventional sources like wind, solar and agriculture and domestic waste. Energy sector in India has been growing at a rapid rate and is expected to increase further in the years to come. In order to meet the increasing requirement of electricity, massive addition to the installed generating capacity in the country is required.

    India has been one of the top performing clean energy economies in the 21st century, registering the fifth highest five-year rate of investment growth and eighth highest in installed renewable energy capacity, according to a research report released by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

    The investment climate is very positive in the Indian energy sector. Due to the surge in the sector, it has witnessed higher investment flows than envisaged. The Ministry of Power has sent its proposal for addition of 76,000 MW of power capacity in the Twelfth Five Year plan (2012-2017) to the planning commission. The ministry has set a target for adding 93,000 MW in the Thirteenth FiveYear Plan (2017-2022).

    The Government has initiated several policies for energy sector in India to promote and garner investments from NRIs/PIOs. To accelerate capacity addition, several policy initiatives have been undertaken by the Ministry of Power.
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