Soon, IndianOil pumps will refuel your Airtel phone too
New Delhi   21-May-2008
India's latest mobile operator Bharti Airtel has forged an exclusive alliance with the country's flagship oil company IndianOil that will enable the telco to access 18,000 retail outlets and 5,500 Indane cooking gas distributors of the oil giant. The deal also envisages that Airtel can use IndianOil outlets to sell its products, collect bills, set up PCO facilities and even open Bharti retail outlets on an exclusive basis. Besides, Airtel can also use IndianOil retail outlets for its branding exercise. Confirming the development Bharti Airtel president for mobile services San-jay Kapoor told ET: "IndianOil has over 18,000 outlets along with 5,500 Indane distributors. The company provides services to 48-million plus households. We see a lot of synergies into entering into an exclusive deal with IndianOil." This is the second major marketing and distribution announcement by Bharti Airtel during this month. Earlier this month, Bharti entered into a strategic partnership with state-run Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd (Iffco) to offer telephony services to farmers in the country's hinterland. This alliance is aimed at providing products and services, specifically designed for farmers, through Iffco societies in villages. "Along with Iffco, the tie-up with IndianOil will complement our rural strategy," Mr Kapoor said. Bharti's deal with IndianOil will also enable the telco to sell its products and services across thousands of Kisan Seva Kendras that IndianOil runs in the country, especially in rural India. Importantly, Bharti is betting on tie-up in metros and large cities for its customers to have a 24-hour access to its products and services. "Many IndianOil outlets are open 24 hours. We see these as centres where our customers can reach us round the clock," Mr Kapoor said. He, however, refused to divulge the commercial details between Bharti and IndianOil. He also said that the agreement would enable IndianOil distributors, especially those handling Indane, to increase their revenues by offering Bharti's services from the same premises. It is also learnt that Bharti and IndianOil had done a pilot spread across the four metros, the national capital region and Maharashtra before entering into a deal for an exclusive partnership on a nation-wide basis. In the next stage, Bharti and IndianOil will also look at other business opportunities so that telecom subscribers of the telco can get better deals while buying IndianOil products. Bharti executives, however, say that while the scope of the agreement permits both companies to explore additional business opportunities, both companies are yet to work out new avenues.