Energy supply disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia are beginning to affect India’s telecom sector, prompting the tower and telecom operators to seek urgent government intervention.
The Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), which represents telecom infrastructure providers such as Indus Towers, Ascend Telecom Infrastructure and other telecom operators, has written to the government seeking priority electricity supply for mobile tower sites and an exemption for telecom tower manufacturing units from a recent order restricting liquified petroleum gas (LPG) supply.
“We have been informed by major tower manufacturing partners that LPG supplies to them from all oil marketing companies have been discontinued with effect from 5 March 2026, in compliance with the Order issued by the ministry of petroleum & natural gas,” Manoj Kumar Singh, director general of DIPA, said in a letter dated 9 March to department of telecommunications (DoT) secretary Amit Agrawal. A copy of the letter, which Mint has seen, was also marked to petroleum secretary Neeraj Mittal.
According to Singh, the continued stoppage of LPG and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to tower manufacturing units is likely to adversely impact the telecom tower manufacturing supply chain and may lead to delays in ongoing and planned tower rollout activities. “This could consequently affect efforts aimed at strengthening telecom networks and expanding connectivity, particularly in uncovered and capacity-constrained areas,” he said.
LPG supply issues
In an order dated 5 March, the petroleum ministry directed all public-sector OMCs to ensure that LPG procured is supplied and marketed only to consumers of domestic LPG. Mint reported on 6 March that India had only about 25 days of LPG stock. Annual demand stands at 33.15 million tonnes, with imports servicing about 75-80% of this. LPG is produced from propane and butane, which are byproducts of crude oil and natural gas processing.
In a post on X on 9 March, the petroleum ministry said, “In light of current geopolitical disruptions to fuel supply and constraints on supply of LPG, the ministry has issued orders to oil refineries for higher LPG production and using such extra production for domestic LPG use.” It added, “For LPG supply to other non-domestic sectors, a committee of three EDs of OMCs have been constituted to review the representations for LPG supply to restaurants/hotels/other industries.”
Mobile towers are the backbone of telecom connectivity, and uninterrupted availability of essential inputs for telecom infrastructure manufacturing is important to ensure timely deployment of telecom networks and continued expansion of connectivity. As of 9 March, there were 854,065 telecom towers installed across the country, according to DoT data.
LPG is needed in tower manufacturing to heat steel parts so they can be coated with zinc, which prevents rust and makes the towers last longer. The halt in LPG supplies has created a serious problem for tower manufacturing units. Manufacturers have temporarily switched to low-flame operations to keep production going, but if the disruption continues, plants may have to shut down entirely. Restarting these facilities would take time and could delay the production of telecom towers, according to DIPA.
Power needs
Similarly, mobile towers rely heavily on diesel-based generator sets during power grid outages for smooth operations. “Any constraints on fuel availability could affect network uptime and uninterrupted digital connectivity, including voice and data services, 5G, national security operations, emergency and disaster response, digital governance platforms, financial transactions, healthcare and telemedicine, and other mission-critical services,” Singh told the DoT in a separate letter dated 9 March, a copy of which was also marked to power ministry.
Telecom operators and infrastructure providers have long demanded essential-services status for assured grid connectivity and faster restoration during outages. They want the government to issue directions to state power distribution companies to minimise planned and unplanned power interruptions that affect telecom services.
Queries emailed to the DoT and petroleum ministry on Tuesday evening were yet to elicit a response at the time of publishing.