CRISIL gives Airtel top rating for corporate governance

Ratings agency CRISIL has assigned the highest rating to Bharti Airtel for the company’s corporate governance standards and value creation for all its stakeholders.

CRISIL rated the telecom operator with ‘CRISIL GVC Level-1 ‘ for its competent board of directors, outstanding corporate governance practices and high disclosure standards compared with listed corporate entities.

“Airtel has a diversified, well-experienced and competent board of directors, with expertise across global finance, telecommunication, banking, administrative services, technology and consulting,” CRISIL said in a report released Friday.

“The effectiveness of the board is reflected in the fact that Airtel has been able to largely maintain its market share amidst intense competition in the Indian telecom industry over the past three years,” it said.

Airtel has a subscriber market share of 28.4% as on December 31, 2019, and revenue market share of 32.7% as of the quarter ended December 31, 2019.

The agency also lauded Airtel for its practices in corporate governance, focusing on strategic oversight and business performance, processes, systems, audits, and disclosures, and effective functioning of its various sub-committees.