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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  News in Numbers: Bharti Airtel raises $1.7 billion by selling 8,300 towers in Africa
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News in Numbers: Bharti Airtel raises $1.7 billion by selling 8,300 towers in Africa

This is seen as a strategy to reduce the $ 10.7 billion debt in Bharti Airtel's book, so that it can face competition from Reliance Industries

Even after this sale, Bharti Airtel still owns 3,700 towers in Africa. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/MintPremium
Even after this sale, Bharti Airtel still owns 3,700 towers in Africa. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

5%

What is it? The estimated fall in pre-tax profits of telecom companies like Airtel and Idea if the proposal by the telecom regulator to impose 1 charge for every dropped call from January 1 next year comes into effect.

Why is it important? For two reasons. One, telecom companies claim they will lose 150 crore each day if the additional charge is imposed. Two, lengthy legal battle is likely to follow as companies claim as per licensing norms they were not expected to give 100% network coverage.

Tell me more: A silver lining for the telecom companies could be the fact minutes volume growth is falling even as data demand increases. Nearly a fourth of all mobile subscribers have used data services as on September 2015.

21,415

What is it? The amount of royalty paid by India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki to its parent, Suzuki Motor Co. in Japan for every car sold in fiscal 2015.

Why is it important? In last 15 years, the royalty per car sold has increased by 6.5 times, even as sales realization increased by only 1.6 times in the same period. Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS), a proxy advisory firm, has questioned the increase and asked for reasons to justify this high royalty payment even as Maruti’s own Research and Development effort is increasing.

Tell me more? In terms of pre-tax pre-royalty profits, the royalty payments works out to 36% in fiscal 2015, as compared to 13% in fiscal 2006.

125

What is it? The number of Air India’s cabin crew members grounded for not meeting the body mass index (BMI) guidelines by airlines regulator.

Why is it important? The state-run Air India is the oldest among all domestic airlines, and wants relaxation of rules as average age of its cabin crew members are higher than the rest. As part of civil aviation requirement, female cabin crew members whose BMI is higher than 22 is considered as ‘overweight’ and those with above 27 as ‘obese’. Overweight cabin crew members are given three months time to reduce weight. If still not met, then that cabin crew member will be declared ‘temporary unfit’.

Tell me more? In case of male crew, a BMI of over 25 is considered overweight.

$400 million

What is it? Sale amount received by Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom operator, by selling mobile towers in Africa and leasing back the same. So far it has raised $ 1.7 billion by selling 8,300 towers.

Why is it important? This is seen as a strategy to reduce the $ 10.7 billion debt in Bharti Airtel’s book, so that it can face competition from Reliance Industries, which plans to launch the fourth generation mobile services by March 2016. Reliance is planning to invest $17 billion to launch its mobile services, even as it has around $ 13 billion of cash as of September 2015.

Tell me more: Even after this sale, Bharti Airtel still owns 3,700 towers in Africa.

33%

What is it? The percentage of households in Delhi that paid a bribe in the last 12 months, according to a sample survey of 1,501 households by the Centre for Media Studies and Transparency International. Extrapolating from the average bribe amount per household of 2,486, the survey estimated that the city’s citizens paid 239 crore as bribe for 15 public services.

Why is it important? While corruption in public services is a nationwide issue, it took centrestage in Delhi as an electoral pitch for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). On Tuesday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been locked in an acrimonious fight with the Centre over distribution of power, quoted the survey results to make a case for giving the state more control, notably of the police.

Tell me more? In the Corruption Perception Index 2014 study by Transparency International, India was ranked 85 out of 175 countries.

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Published: 21 Oct 2015, 12:52 PM IST
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