The energy consumption of India Inc's information and communication technology infrastructure is forecast to grow by 30 per cent to over 31 trillion-watt hours by 2014, a study by global research firm Gartner said.

"Energy consumption by enterprise information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure is forecast to pass 31 trillion-watt hours (TWh) by 2014. It stood at an estimated 24 TWh in 2009," Gartner Principal Research Analyst Ganesh Ramamoorthy told PTI.

ICT infrastructure used by enterprises includes computing infrastructure equipment, such as personal computers and servers; imaging infrastructure equipment, such as printers; and enterprise communications infrastructure equipment, such as switches, routers and PABX.

"The main reasons behind the rise in energy consumption is the fast growing base of ICT infrastructure in companies and use of laptops, among others," Ramamoorthy added.

In tandem with the rise in energy consumption, carbon emissions levels from Indian enterprise ICT infrastructure is also expected to rise to 25 million metric tonnes by 2014 from less than 20 million metric tonnes in 2009, the Gartner study said.

Computing infrastructure like PCs and monitors accounted for nearly 62 per cent of total ICT energy consumption in 2009, followed by enterprise communications infrastructure, with 25 per cent.

Among various verticals, the communications, media and services segment accounted for the largest share of energy consumption last year, at nearly 25 per cent, followed by manufacturing, at about 24 per cent, and banking, securities and insurance, at about 17 per cent, the study said.

Gartner suggested in the report that IT organisations need a factual basis for putting in place strategies for reducing energy consumption of ICT infrastructure.

"Few organisations use a methodical approach to measuring the energy consumption of the ICT infrastructure in their organisation," Ramamoorthy added.

Gartner believes enterprises should invest in understanding the energy consumption pattern within their firms before implementing a formal energy reduction programme to achieve 'green goals'.