Airtel and Vodafone are planning to invest ₹6,000 crore in West Bengal over the next three to five years. Some of the projects are already under implementation.
Simultaneously, the telecom companies are also pushing the government for permission to erect towers on government buildings.
“Airtel has already invested ₹13,000 crore in West Bengal and another ₹3,500 crore investment is under implementation, spread over the next few years,” said Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice chairman, Bharti Enterprises at the just-concluded Global Business Summit, 2017.
“However, we would also need permission from the state government for putting up towers in their buildings,” he said.
Vodafone India signed an MoU with the state government committing an investment of ₹3,000 crore over the next three years for capacity augmentation and new business initiatives, according to a release. The MoU aims at expanding Vodafone’s presence in the state through enhanced network capacity. Arvinder Singh Sachdev, Business Head – Kolkata and West Bengal Circle, said “We service more than two crore customers in Kolkata and West Bengal circles.”
