The Ministry of Railways has made its telecom services available to private companies which will allow them to install towers on land owned by the Indian Railways. The move comes months after the Union Cabinet lowered the criteria for land license fees (LLF) for railroad land to attract private investment. 70 divisions of the railways will also allow installation of pole mounts and small cells in its offices and station premises.
Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) has welcomed the move made by the Ministry of Railways allowing private infrastructure providers to deploy telecom towers on land owned by Indian Railways. DIPA applauds the continuous support provided to the telecom industry by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Railways, and releasing the long-awaited policy encouraging the deployment of telecom infrastructure. However, some issues still exist in the policy.
Commenting on the development, T. R. Dua, director-general, DIPA, said, “This was a long time demand of the telecom industry which will help in providing better telecom connectivity to the passengers and people leaving in remote areas. The move to allow licensing of railway land to private entities for the installation of telecom towers shall bring down costs and boost efficiency and telecom connectivity. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and National Broadband Mission Directorate have been the real backbone of the recent digital transformation in our country and further playing a pivotal role in improving the ease of doing business.”
In accordance with the new LLF policy, the existing rate of 7 per cent revenue sharing for mobile towers has been scrapped. Instead, annual land usage charges of 1.5 per cent of the market value of land would be enforced.
