New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) The telecom tower industry has urged the Finance Ministry to allow accelerated depreciation rate of 65 per cent on batteries, 20 per cent funding through External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) for the working capital and inclusion of telecom towers in the priority sector for lending by banks.

The industry uses lithium ion batteries, which have an average life of 3-5 years. A higher depreciation rate for these batteries can help higher adoption of these batteries, which can decrease dependence on diesel for power back-up. Diesel adds to the higher cost of production for the tower companies.  Accelerated depreciation is a method whereby an asset loses book value at a faster rate than the traditional straight-line method. Generally, this method allows greater deductions in the earlier years of an asset and is used to minimise taxable income.  Apart from these key demands, the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) in its submission to the Finance Ministry, said it wants inclusion of the telecom infrastructure service providers in Section 72A in the cases of mergers and amalgamations.