Consequently, the manufacturing part of the Rs 770 crore-Bharti Enterprises is being demerged and hived off into a separate company called Bharti Teletech. Bharti Global, which will be looking after the group's overseas ventures and software development business is also being delinked completely from the Indian operation.

Bharti Telecom's investments in manufacturing operations will stand transferred to Bharti Teletech. The company has worked out a swap ratio of 3 shares of Bharti Teletech for 10 shares of Bharti Telecom to effect the separation of the businesses.

According to Mittal, the group also plans to list Bharti Telecom and Bharti Teletech on the stock exchanges after hiving them off, to be followed by Bharti BT Internet Limited. Though he refused to give any details of the time frame, he said the first one off the block will be Bharti Teletech, which will be listed on an Indian bourse, within this financial year.Consequent to the de-merger, Bharti Teletech will consolidate its telecom terminal operations through an operating unit while the telecom ducts business will continue to be vested with Bharti Duraline, in which it will hold 50 per cent stake along with Duraline USA.

Meanwhile, Bharti Global will now be the lead company for both its international telecom services company, Telecom Seychelles and its software arm, Bharti Telesoft.

Bharti Telesoft Limited is the software division of the group which focuses on technology and product development in the telecom and e-commerce domain. With offices in the UK and the US, Bharti Telesoft is in the process of setting up a network management competency centre in India. Telecom Seychelles provides telecom services in Seychelles.

Clear line of vision
According to Mittal, the restructuring is designed to ensure that identical businesses are run along similar lines and that the management can tap our best resources in any functional field to serve the best interests of the entire group.

What was important was a clear `linear vision' by which the person at the helm of a business line or with the expertise in a particular functional area could have a `linear vision' right through the whole chain of command and effect interventions or changes which would ensure synergies. The apex team of corporate directors would ensure that this linear vision is delivered in key functional areas.

``Thus, with our cellular services now spanning from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean, it was critical to ensure that our customers saw the service to be the same, be it in Delhi, or in Rajahmundry or Belgaum,'' Mittal added. For that, it was essential to have a clear business line leader who would not merely be considering territories and circles but focussing on each service as a national business operation.Taking charge
The power centres are shifting. Sunil Bharti Mittal will continue as Chairman and Group Managing Director for Bharti Enterprises and in turn both Bharti Telecom and Bharti Teletech. Consequent to the restructuring, he will hold the additional executive role of Managing Director of Bharti Telecom, as he plans to personally look after telecom services, which contributes to more than 80 per cent of the turnover of the company. "This is the first step towards my dis-engagement from the non-services side of the business," added Mittal.

Rakesh Bharti Mittal will take over as vice-chairman and managing director of Bharti Teletech, the manufacturing arm of the group, which currently contributes 20 per cent to the group turnover. Bharti Teletech's operating companies would comprise a manufacturing and marketing arm for telecom terminals and Bharti Duraline which manufactures telecom ducts.Rakesh Bharti Mittal will also look after Bharti Healthcare, the only group company which is not into telecom. eom As part of the restructuring exercise, an apex team of corporate directors has been constituted. Each of these corporate directors will have supervisory and strategic responsibilities for functional areas across business lines.

The directors will oversee eight functional areas including Projects and CapEx, Human Resources, Marketing and Corporate Communication, Technology, Finance, Legal, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs.