Indian Railways: Private Telecom Players Can Now Install 5G Towers On Rail Land

Extending a helping hand for the growth of 5G across the country, Indian Railways has allowed private telecom players to install towers on its land, a departure from the past practice of allowing only RailTel to do it.

The move is significant as it would not only be a boost to the 5G network, but it would also attract substantial revenue for the national transporter.

"To Help the growth of 5G in the country, licensing of railway land for towers to entities other than RailTel may also be permitted by divisions.

"Divisions can also permit pole mounts/small cells in railway offices/stations in accordance with Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2022," stated the policy issued by the Railways for installation of telecom infrastructure on rail land and buildings.

The move from the Railways comes after the revision of railway land usage policy. All 68 divisions of railways have been given freedom to allow private telecom players to install towers in their respective areas with a stipulated license fee.

The fee is more in metro cities as compared to other towns and areas.

According to an estimate, Delhi Division is expected to earn Rs 25 crore in a year with Rs 4,000 per month from a single tower.

The policy allows installation of hundreds of towers in a division as the FG network requires maximum number of towers for smooth transmission of signals.  

According to the Railways, it has become necessary to revise the existing policy regarding installation of towers by RailTel on rail land. It has clarified that the Railways shall not bear any liability for theft, damage of the assets belonging to the agency and installed along with towers.

The policy also does not allow the permitted agencies any advertisement rights or any other revenue generating activity on towers. However, the Railways reserve the right to generate non-fare revenue from these towers.

Instead of the 7 per cent revenue share that was the current norm, an annual land use charge of 1.5 per cent of the market value of land would be enforced for Land Licensing Fees (LLF) norms for railway land to attract private investment.

According to the Railways, India needs to boost the telecom infrastructure to roll out 5G in India successfully and for this the public transporter has allowed private infrastructure providers to deploy telecom towers in railway-owned properties.

This was a long time demand of the telecom industry which will help in providing better telecom connectivity to the passengers and people living in remote areas.

The move to allow licensing of railway land to private entities for the installation of telecom towers shall also bring down costs and boost efficiency and telecom connectivity.