Tata DOCOMO’s Project ‘Optimus’ awarded the 2014 QualTech Prize for Sustainability
Bangalore, India, November 25, 2014: Tata DOCOMO – the unified telecom brand of Tata Teleservices – has been awarded the prestigious 2014 QualTech Prize for Sustainability for reducing the environmental and operational impact of its infrastructure and operations across India.
Through its Project Optimus initiative, across its multiple sites, Tata Teleservices Limited was able to reduce Grid power consumption of 46486 MWh & diesel consumption reduction by 12725 KL leading to an overall carbon footprint reduction of over 78874 TCO2. The company deployed a mix of innovative solutions which included housing indoor equipment in outdoor cabinets and using outside climate to effect the cooling process; thus completely eliminating the requirement – the cost and environmental impact – for air conditioning.
The efforts led to reduction in levels of CO2 emissions by reduced energy consumption at the base station due to reduced power and diesel consumption, and in process saving on diesel costs which can be as high as 31% of Opex for a telecom company. Other initiatives focused on deployment of solar and wind energy, more efficient use of print and paper across the operations leading to a direct impact in terms of electricity, emissions, paper (water, pulp etc) and other resources. The award reflects that the company scaled up its efforts to include employees and institutionalised the mechanisms throughout the country covering; 19598 base stations/towers.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Neeraj Dindore – Chief Technology Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited said, “The 2014 QualTech Prize for Sustainability represents an important milestone for our commitment to minimizing environmental impact across our operations. We are absolutely delighted with this victory, it comes as an affirmation that Sustainability initiatives can be successfully integrated with business without each one impinging on the other. As a part of Tata Group’s commitment to climate and to communities that it serves in, Tata Teleservices limited is working towards becoming a greener telecom service provider.”
The recognition was made by Qimpro Consultants, a Mumbai-based quality management, business excellence, benchmarking, and innovation consultancy; now it its 26th year, the company’s QualTech Prize acknowledges innovation and best practices between cross-functional teams in sectors ranging from healthcare and services to manufacturing and retail
