Indus Towers and IIT Madras join forces to reinvent telecom infrastructure with green materials
Press Release, 17 September 2025
What if the towers connecting billions of mobile phones could also help build a greener planet? In a landmark industry-academia collaboration, Indus Towers Limited—India’s largest telecom tower company has teamed up with IIT Madras to pioneer research on Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP), a next-generation material poised to transform the way telecom and infrastructure projects are built.
This isn’t just about telecom towers. It’s about reimagining the very materials that hold up our digital future making them lighter, stronger, and more sustainable.
Why GFRP Matters
For decades, steel has been the backbone of telecom infrastructure. But it comes with challenges: high maintenance, corrosion in coastal areas, and heavy transportation costs. Enter Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP)—a material with a superior strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and easier installation.
Here’s why GFRP could be a game-changer:
- Lightweight & Strong → Easier to transport, install, and maintain.
- Corrosion-Resistant → Perfect for India’s coastal and high-exposure regions.
- Eco-Friendly & Durable → Lower lifecycle costs and better sustainability.
- Design Flexibility → Can be adapted for towers, scaffolding, staircases, roofing, and more.
As telecom infrastructure expands to meet India’s digital goals, materials like GFRP can drastically cut costs and reduce environmental impact.
Voices Behind the Innovation
Anil Gupta, Chief Technology & Delivery Officer at Indus Towers, summed it up:
“This partnership with IIT Madras is a bold step toward redefining the material science landscape. GFRP offers a transformative opportunity—not only structurally sound and cost-effective but also aligned with our sustainability goals.”
From the academic side, Prof. Ravindra Gettu, IIT Madras, highlighted the broader potential:
“Our research will help establish models of durability and performance for GFRP in applications such as telecom towers, scaffolding, roofing, and even partition walls. The outcomes could set new benchmarks across industries.”
And Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean – Alumni & Corporate Relations, IIT Madras, emphasized the impact of such partnerships:
“This collaboration exemplifies how research can move from labs to real-world solutions—socially and economically impactful.”
Indus Towers’ Bigger Vision
This project is part of Pragati, Indus Towers’ flagship CSR program that drives sustainable innovation and inclusive growth. With a portfolio of 251,773 telecom towers across India, Indus Towers is already a giant in infrastructure. Now, it’s betting on sustainability-driven innovation to lead the next wave of growth.
By funding this research, Indus Towers is investing in the future of digitally connected, resilient, and eco-friendly infrastructure—not just for telecom, but potentially for industries like construction, energy, and transportation.
Why This Matters for India
India is one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, with mobile connectivity forming its backbone. As 5G and IoT adoption scale, the need for strong, scalable, and sustainable telecom infrastructure becomes more urgent.
This partnership between industry and academia could:
- Set global standards for GFRP-based structures.
- Boost local innovation, reducing reliance on imported materials.
- Cut carbon footprints across infrastructure development.
- Enable faster, greener connectivity for millions of Indians.
