Kolkata’s growing dependence on fibre networks is bringing the environmental cost of digital infrastructure into sharper focus after Sterlite Technologies announced a major shift towards renewable electricity and lower-carbon manufacturing. While the transition covers four manufacturing facilities in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra, its significance extends to cities such as Kolkata, where expanding digital connectivity is increasing demand for network infrastructure.
The company has moved the electricity sourcing for the four participating manufacturing plants towards power generated from wind and solar sources. The shift is expected to reduce market-based Scope 2 emissions from the optical fibre and cable facilities by about 65%. Scope 2 emissions refer to indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity, making the change particularly relevant to the carbon footprint of energy-intensive manufacturing.For Kolkata, the development matters less as a corporate facility announcement and more as a signal about the infrastructure behind the city’s digital economy. Fibre is increasingly fundamental to broadband, enterprise connectivity, cloud services, data centres and public digital systems. As these networks expand, the environmental impact of producing the materials that support them is becoming an increasingly relevant urban infrastructure question.The company has also introduced green hydrogen into its glass-manufacturing process, targeting one of the more energy-intensive stages of optical-fibre production. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable electricity rather than fossil-fuel-based processes.
The move could help reduce emissions in manufacturing stages that are harder to decarbonise through direct electrification alone.Another measure is a reported reduction in the carbon footprint of its G.657.A2 optical fibre from 4.7 kg of CO₂e per fibre kilometre to 0.9 kg, an improvement of more than 80% according to the company. Such product-level measurements are increasingly important as telecom operators and infrastructure buyers assess the embodied carbon of network equipment rather than looking only at emissions from operating buildings and data centres.Kolkata’s challenge will be to ensure that digital expansion does not simply shift environmental pressures further up the supply chain. Faster connectivity can support productivity, education, public services and economic inclusion, but the infrastructure enabling that growth also carries material and energy costs.
Urban planners and infrastructure experts increasingly view procurement standards, renewable power and lifecycle carbon accounting as tools that can make future networks cleaner without compromising access. For Kolkata, the next step is therefore not only expanding fibre coverage, but ensuring that the infrastructure supporting the city’s digital future is built with lower emissions and greater resource efficiency.
