The Indian mobile telecom industry, one of the fastest growing sectors in India, had 5843 million subscribers in 2010-11 registering an annual growth rate of 4915%. The energy consumed by the sector was 163 PJ and the corresponding CO2 emission was estimated at 329 million tons. In this paper, the mobile telecom industry is dis-aggregated into various segments, based on the life-cycle of the device, and each segment’s contribution to the overall energy consumption and its respective CO2 emissions are discussed. In addition, the paper evaluates four scenarios that examine the impact of energy efficiency on energy savings and the corresponding CO2 emissions relative to the ‘business as usual’ scenario for 2010-20.The results of the study provide an imperative to researchers working on next generation infrastructure and energy efficiency to develop new technologies that will reduce the energy consumption and the corresponding CO2 emissions of the growing Indian mobile telecom industry.
