Airtel releases 2017 India Sustainability Report

• Over 81% reduction in CO2 emissions per TB in network infrastructure over five years and 28.7% reduction over 2015-16
• 1.3million liters of diesel saved in network infrastructure
• Commitment to reduce carbon footprint by 70% by 2020
• Doubled mobile network over last two years, 180,000 sites added; network covers 95% of India’s population
• Rolled out India’s first Open Network to set new benchmark in transparency with customers
• Benefited over 198,000 underprivileged children in rural India by supporting Bharti Foundation’s initiatives
• Contributed to government’s Digital India and financial inclusion vision through Airtel Payments Bank

New Delhi, July 17, 2017:  Bharti Airtel (Airtel), India’s largest telecommunications company, has released its 2017 India Sustainability Report that outlines its approach towards responsible, sustainable business practices and making a positive impact on all stakeholders including customers, suppliers, local communities, investors, employees and government bodies.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, “As part of our governance DNA, we attach a deep sense of purpose to the way we conduct our business and ensure it has a positive impact on all stakeholders. Being a responsible corporate citizen, we have implemented a host of sustainability initiatives across the organization and remain fully committed to building on this strong foundation.”

Green Initiatives

• 81% reduction in CO2 emissions across network infrastructure in the last five years and 27% reduction in the last financial year.
• 23% reduction in CO2 emissions per square feet in our facility and 9% reduction in CO2 emissions per rack in data centre operations against 2015-16
• Airtel saved over 1280 million sheets of paper since FY 2011-12 on paperless billing initiatives.
• Adopted Aadhar based instant verification process which is secure and eliminates paperwork
• Managed to recycle 2400 tonnes of e-waste and refurbished over 500,000 direct-to-home set top boxes
• Over 1200 tonnes of paper have been saved since FY 2011-12 with the paperless billing initiative, over 170millions have opted for e-bills. 191tonnes of paper was saved across facilities
• Adopted Aadhar based instant verification process which is secure and eliminates paperwork. 32.7million such paperless Aadhar based acquisitions were completed last year.

Customer Initiatives

• Unveiled India’s first Open Network, setting a new benchmark for transparency in the industry, by making the entire network information including coverage, site details and signal strength available to customers.
• Doubled mobiles sites in just two years by deploying 180,000 sites. This is the same number deployed over the past 20 years.
• Self-regulation: Airtel will contribute INR 100,000 for every 0.01% increase in call drop rate beyond 1.5% / month against the TRAI prescribed limit of 2%. The amount will be contributed towards education of the under privileged.
• Listening to customers through various touch points - stores, customer care, website, and social media. There is 74% increase in online interactions and 10million social media queries were answered last year

Community Initiatives

• The company supports over 254 Satya Bharti School Program, Learning Centers and Quality Support Program through its educational initiatives and benefitted over 43,500 underprivileged children in rural India, impacting over 198,000 underprivileged children cumulatively.
• Benefitted over 3.8 million farmers through the IFFCO-Kisan Sanchar Ltd by undertaking mobile based agriculture awareness
• Implemented a host of initiatives in the field of disaster relief management, environment protection and other social causes

Other key interventions

• Deployed a ‘Win with people’ strategy. To help talent grow through strong learning, mentoring and succession planning, started conducting Career Fairs. Over 370 hours of training interventions with over 935,000 man hours of training delivered in FY 2016-17
• Launched Airtel Payments Bank, the first payments bank in India, further consolidating the government’s agenda of digital payments and financial inclusion.
• Enabled over 1000 villages to go cashless across India, through enabling Airtel Payments Bank accounts with over 250000 banking points and onboarding merchants who accept digital payments

To view the full report visit: here

About Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 17 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 377 million customers across its operations at the end of May 2017. To know more please visit, www.airtel.in