Airtel Sustainability

At Airtel, we believe in regular and meaningful interaction with our stakeholders to enable us to understand evolving needs, take steps to mitigate risks and build on emerging opportunities. Our framework for stakeholder engagement describes a strategy for interacting and collaborating with our stakeholders. It is implemented across various functions within the organisation.

The primary focus of our framework is to:

Facilitate our ability to understand stakeholder concerns and interests and incorporate them into our processes and activities
Improve the way we communicate and engage with our stakeholders, including enhancing the clarity, accessibility, relevance, and timeliness of our communication throughout our engagement processes
Continue enhancing stakeholders’ trust and confidence in our processes, decisions, and activities

Stakeholder's expectations

Customers

Network quality, expansion, and transformation
Innovative products and services
Information security and customer data privacy
Enhancing customer experience and satisfaction
Fair marketing and advertising
Resource efficiency and waste management

Investors

Regulatory compliances
Corporate governance and business ethics
Climate change, energy efficiency and emission reduction

Suppliers

Sustainable supply chain management
Innovation of products and services
Green ICT solutions

Employees

Employee health and well-being
Talent attraction and human capital development
Diversity and inclusion
Innovation of products and services
Promoting human rights

Channel Partners

Sustainable supply chain management
Enhancing customer experience & satisfaction
Network quality, expansion and transformation

Network Partners

Network quality, expansion, and transformation
Climate change, energy efficiency & emission reduction
Sustainable supply chain management

Regulatory Bodies

Corporate governance & Business ethics
Regulatory compliances
Information security and customer data privacy

Communities

Corporate citizenship and community development
Regulatory compliances
Digital inclusion and enhanced access to ICT

At Airtel, we regularly undertake materiality assessments to identify and prioritise the sustainability issues that are most relevant to our operations and stakeholders. These concerns are crucial for identifying sustainability-related risks and opportunities, prioritising sustainability initiatives, and planning our reporting and disclosure activities. We conduct a materiality assessment every two to three years to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues that could significantly affect our ability to create value.

How is materiality assessed at Airtel?

We engage with our internal and external stakeholders to gain awareness of the issues that concern our stakeholders the most and impact our business and thereby our value creation. A materiality assessment is conducted based on aspects like ESG impacts, business goals and priorities, and the needs and concerns of stakeholders.

A comprehensive materiality assessment exercise was conducted following GRI Standards and guided by AccountAbility's AA1000 principles (2018).

The materiality assessment helps us identify risk parameters that are integrated across all management levels of the Company. These material issues are dynamic and vary based on changes in our external operating environment and the evolving expectations of our stakeholders. Our identified key material ESG issues were reviewed by Airtel’s senior management and are depicted in the form of a materiality matrix. The matrix categorises these material issues by their level of significance to the organisation and its stakeholders, ranking them as critical, high, or moderate.

Material Topics

Information security and customer data privacy
Talent attraction and human capital development
Corporate governance and business ethics
Climate change, energy efficiency and emission reduction
Enhancing customer experience and satisfaction
Network quality, expansion, and transformation
Regulatory compliance
Innovation in product and services
Employee health and well-being
Diversity and inclusion
Sustainable supply chain management
Promoting human rights
Corporate citizenship and community development
Resource efficiency and waste management
Fair marketing and advertising
Digital inclusion and enhanced access to ICT
Water efficiency
Green ICT solutions

The identified material topics and details of our interventions in each area are detailed in our annual Integrated Report.

Airtel ensures compliance to the highest standards of corporate governance through numerous policies, guidelines and standards. The company adheres to the highest levels of ethical and transparent business practices as articulated by the "Bharti Code of Conduct" which covers ethics, bribery, corruption and human rights. This is applicable to employees, suppliers and contractors, service providers, channel partners and their employees.

To facilitate an effective implementation of our Code of Conduct, we have an Ombudsman process which allows employee, contractors and vendors, to raise a grievance or complaint without any fear of reprisal. A formal process is undertaken to review and investigate any concern and take appropriate action in accordance with the Consequence Management Policy. All employees have to annually reaffirm their compliance to the code of conduct, and this compliance is strictly monitored. The instances of such misconduct are periodically reported to the Audit Committee.

Other Airtel policies have evolved in order to effectively engage with our stakeholders to maximize positive impact on environment and society. To ensure the health and safety of the community at large, Airtel also ensures that it is aligned with national and international guidelines on EMF.

Airtel believes that risk management and internal control are fundamental to effective corporate governance and the development of a sustainable business. It has a robust process to identify key risks across the group and prioritize relevant action plans that can mitigate these risks.

The Airtel brand essence of enriching lives embeds sustainability into its mainstream business agenda. A robust system of governance is in place and stakeholders help derive material issues that shape our ESG strategy and programs.

ESG Governance Structure

The Board of Directors (‘the Board’) oversees the Company's priorities in environmental, social, and governance (ESG), as well as the long-term strategy for sustainability, targets and performance

Board ESG Committee of the Board provides strategic guidance and decision-making on ESG and is responsible for review and approval of ESG strategy, goals and targets

ESG Council (at Management level) identifies key ESG initiatives and establishes procedures, systems, oversight mechanisms, and standardised protocols to attain the outlined ESG objectives

Corporate Sustainability Function develops the ESG roadmap and monitors performance on initiatives as well as mapping and reporting of ESG progress in line with national and global frameworks

ESG Functional Champions (representative from all functions) implement sustainability action plan on ground and are responsible for the execution and monitoring of ESG initiatives associated with their function

Risk Management Committee reviews strategic risks and opportunities including climate change

Refer here for details

Description	View Files
Description Bharti Airtel EHS Policy	View File
Description Bharti Airtel Human Rights Policy	View File
Description Bharti Airtel Tax Policy	View File
Description Stakeholder Engagement Framework	View File
Description Bharti COC Policy	View File
Description Ombudsperson policy and process	View File
Description Code of Conduct for Business Associates	View File
Description Bharti Airtel CSR policy	View File
Description Bharti Airtel Privacy Policy	View File
Description Airtel Sustainable Procurement Policy	View File

SDG	Our Approach	Our Initiatives
Goal 3: Good Health & Well-being	Airtel promotes good health and well-being of its employees, business partners and the broader community. Any existing and potential health and safety risk/issue is prioritized and resolved at the earliest.	We prioritize safe working environment and actively promote employee health and well-being through wellness drives, on-site medical services, health risk assessments, stress management training, and gym facilities. Regular safety training helps our employees avoid health hazards. Our offices are designed for efficiency and productivity, with ergonomic features and optimal indoor air quality, noise, temperature, and humidity. We promote the holistic well-being of employees through various benefits and opportunities offered under ‘Airtel Cares’, a comprehensive 360-degree employee well-being program centred around the four pillars of physical well-being, emotional well-being, financial well-being and social well-being.
Goal 4: Quality Education	Airtel has adopted a significant role in enabling the progress, development and inclusion of vulnerable sections of the community where it operates, through provision of quality education. We believe that education is the foundation for eradication of poverty and upliftment of society.	Bharti Airtel Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises, has been working towards providing access to quality education for the underprivileged children in rural India since 2000. Committed to providing and advocating equitable access to quality education, especially for girls, the Foundation focuses on school-level education programmes and long-term partnerships in higher education space. Aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy 2020, its mission is to ensure that every child receives quality education and has the chance to contribute towards the nation's progress.
Goal 5: Gender Equality	Respecting diversity is one of the core values for Airtel. We respect and promote gender diversity, ethnicity, race and nationality, in order to build a truly inclusive organization.	Airtel values diversity and fosters it within its culture, with strong female representation at all levels. We offer dedicated programs to empower women and promote gender equality. Gender sensitization workshops are provided to all managers to ensure an inclusive, gender-neutral workplace. Our progressive policies support a friendly, engaged work environment, and our 'We Lead' program is designed to develop future women leaders by enhancing key competencies.
Goal 7: Affordable & Clean Energy	Airtel is committed to adopt clean energy and is in constant efforts to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, increase its share of renewable energy, and thus reduce its environmental footprint.	We are taking proactive steps to increase the share of renewables in our energy mix, in order to reduce our environmental footprint. From Installation of Rooftop solar panels and procurement of Green Energy through power wheeling arrangements. 223,930 MWh of energy consumed in our operations was from renewable sources.
Goal 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth	Airtel is committed to create the most conducive workplace for its employees to grow and develop, ensuring equal opportunity and ethical conduct.	We employ around 23,628 people globally and are committed to equal opportunity in all aspects, including recruitment, selection, career planning, and growth. We extend our network into remote areas of India, prioritizing the employment of local youth to support them in achieving sustainable livelihoods. We also ensure our vendors adhere to human rights and labor laws through our sustainable supply chain management program.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure	Airtel is in continuous momentum to innovate and come up with new products and services, toprovide an enhanced experience to its customers, and find creative solutions to social problems.	Innovation is at the core of Airtel. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies, strong R&D, and effective collaborations, we introduce innovative products and services each year to enhance our customers' lives. We focus on digitization, self-care, and digital stores to improve convenience and innovate across all operations. Beyond telecom, we offer technology solutions for essential services like health, education, financial inclusion, and agriculture. We continuously modernize and expand our network infrastructure to ensure top-quality service and engage in passive infrastructure sharing to optimize resources and minimize environmental impact.
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities	Airtel is committed to promote diversity and inclusion, reduce inequalities by prohibiting discrimination and promote Human Capital Development.	Airtel is committed to preventing any violation of human rights throughout our operations, supply chains, communities and business relationships. All employees receive training to ensure prevention of discrimination and harassment in the workplace. We have institutionalized policies to prohibit discrimination and foster culture of diversity and inclusion. We focus to enhance skills of individuals by promoting training and development.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption & Production	Airtel is committed to transition towards circular economy through reduction of waste and resource optimization at all stages of its operations.	Airtel has declared War on Waste and is taking concrete steps to reduce our resource consumption and transition to a more sustainable production. Measures include recycling of paper and E-waste, introduction of E-bills, take back & refurbishing of DTH set top boxes, switching to recycled plastic in the SIM cards, shift to green mobile tower technologies that consume less power, green network Infrastructure, tower sharing to save resources like steel, cement, concrete, zinc and land. We are also striving to increase the share of renewable energy in our total energy mix.
Goal 13: Climate Action	Airtel is proactively contributing to the global climate change movement, through measurement and reduction of its ecological footprint across the value chain, including business operations, supply chain and delivery of services.	Airtel is committed to evaluating the environmental impact of its services, operations, and infrastructure. We continuously assess our energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, implementing various measures to enhance energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. These include installing solar panels, using diesel-battery hybrid modes, procuring green energy through wheeling agreements, reducing energy demand by switching off ACs and utilizing natural solar cooling, intelligent shutdown technology for non-peak hours, and cold aisle containment in data centers to minimize energy waste.
Goal 16: Peace Justice and Strong Institutions	Airtel is committed to a strong and robust foundation of ethics and responsibility to sustain economic value.	Airtel upholds fair, transparent, and ethical governance through its Code of Business Conduct, which applies to all employees, the Board of Directors, subsidiaries, and Business Associates. The Code prohibits discrimination, anti-competitive practices, insider trading, corruption, bribes, and improper payments. To prevent conflicts of interest, necessary safeguards are integrated into Airtel’s Corporate Governance structure. Airtel’s Ombudsman policy enables employees, contractors, and vendors to raise concerns without fear of reprisal. Additionally, Airtel's strong corporate governance philosophy ensures effective, accountable, and transparent decision-making.

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DTH

BANK

AIRTEL BLACK

AIRTEL FINANCE

Embedding
Sustainability

Embedding Sustainability