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Sunil Mittal
BT Group on Monday said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, and Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, will join its board as non-independent non-executive directors with immediate effect. The move assumes significance in the light of 2024 announcement of telecom czar Mittal's conglomerate acquiring 24.5 per cent stake in BT Group for about USD 4 billion to become the single-largest shareholder in Britain's biggest broadband and mobile company. "BT Group announces that, with effect from today (15 September 2025), Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, and Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel Ltd, will join the Board of BT Group as non-independent non-executive directors," BT said. Mittal and Vittal will join the board pursuant to a "relationship agreement" as the nominated representatives of Bharti Televentures UK Ltd, a company established and wholly owned by Bharti ...
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal has exuded confidence in India's ability to move at a steady economic clip even in face of global headwinds intensified by rising trade disputes and ongoing conflicts. Penning a note in Airtel's latest annual report, the telecom industry stalwart said that political stability and a robust policy push across key sectors, including infrastructure, logistics and supply chains, are creating a conducive investment climate and driving India's ambitions of becoming a manufacturing hub for the world. Acknowledging that overall global macroeconomic growth has been subdued and divergent across different regions, Mittal called for coordinated action to ensure sustainable momentum. "India is likely to sustain its stable economic performance, even amid global uncertainties heightened by escalating trade tensions and ongoing conflicts. Global macroeconomic growth has been subdued, diverging sharply across regions and requiring coordinated action to ensure ...
England-based University of Bath has conferred an honorary doctorate on Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the company said on Thursday. The University of Bath is ranked among the UK's top-ten universities and placed within the top 10 per cent globally, the statement said. "Founder and Chairman, Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration by the University of Bath, United Kingdom (UK)," the statement said. The honour from the University of Bath marks Mr Mittal's ninth honorary doctorate and his third from a UK institution. He was earlier conferred the Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) by the University of Leeds in 2009 and the Doctor of Civil Law (Honoris Causa) by Newcastle University in 2012. "I'm honoured to receive this recognition from the University of Bath, an institution renowned for its intellectual rigour, spirit of enterprise, and engagement with the world beyond the classroom," Mittal said. "We are v
Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Mittal on Thursday exhorted the industry to prioritise an 'India-first' approach, rising above individual or sectoral interests to contribute to nation-building as the telecom sector doyen advocated prioritising of talent dividend, stepping up R&D, trade reset and a collaborative framework between industry and government. Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025, Mittal also advised companies to emulate the 'Tata' mould of trust as he highlighted the respect commanded by the 'house of Tatas'. Citing the progress made towards trade pacts between India and key nations, Mittal exuded confidence that the government will safeguard industry's interests in trade agreements, but asserted at the same time, that it is important that the "industry and chambers don't ask for things which will make FTAs difficult". Stating that lakhs of crores are stuck in litigation around direct taxes, indirect taxes, and other regulatory matters, the industry stalwart said
The India-UK Free Trade Agreement is not only a pivotal milestone in ties between the two nations but is also poised to be the gateway to an era of flourishing bilateral cooperation, shared innovation and enhanced people-to-people connect, Sunil Bharti Mittal said on Tuesday. The Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman also noted that India and the UK represent a burgeoning wealth of ideas, talents and resources. India and the UK on Tuesday sealed a landmark free trade agreement that will lower tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian exports and would make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars and other products to India, besides boosting the overall trade basket. Along with the FTA -- the biggest the UK has done since leaving the European Union -- the two sides also sealed a double contribution convention. In a statement on the successful conclusion of the India-UK FTA negotiations, Mittal said, "This is not only a pivotal milestone in the history of the relations between ou
Spectrum for satellite connectivity in rural and hard-to-reach areas can be given on shared basis but when it comes to urban areas, TRAI and the government need to come out with a policy that does not discriminate against the terrestrial providers, Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Group, said on Friday, weighing in on one of the most spirited debates raging in the industry in recent times. Satellite connectivity is indeed required to serve dark, underserved areas, Mittal said, adding, "We fully welcome that". The top honcho of Bharti Group, considered to be telecom sector stalwart, was speaking on the sidelines of SOUL leadership conclave 2025. "There are lots of parts of the world and lots of people still living in dark areas which need to be lit up. The only way it can be done is through satellite broadband connectivity," he said. Mittal added: "We are one of the leading players and waiting for our permissions, and we are providing the services in many parts of the world already.
Satellite communications is a "magic bullet" to cover dark unconnected areas, Bharti Chairman Sunil Mittal said on Monday, adding that players now have a great new opportunity to leverage satellite connectivity to cover remote areas that have so far been left out. Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, Mittal said that nearly two billion people in the world are still not connected to the internet, and in the Indian context too there are areas -- large swathes of desert, forests, coastlines -- where neither mobile networks, not fibre is feasible. "For those areas you need satellite communications, and that, to my mind, offers now a great source of new opportunities for us, mobile operators, or telecom operators, to put that in a mix and start to cover areas which are still left behind," Mittal said. About five per cent of India's population sans internet connectivity lives in 25 per cent of the area, he said, emphasising that satellite is the only solution for them. "India provides a ve
The BT Group on Monday said Bharti Global's acquisition of a significant stake in the British telecom major is a "great vote of confidence" in the future of the company and its strategy. Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, announced an agreement to acquire about 24.5 per cent in BT Group from Altice UK. Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal described the investment in the "iconic" British company as a "significant milestone" for Bharti Enterprises. "We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business, and this scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy," said Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive of the BT Group. "BT has enjoyed a long association with Bharti Enterprises, and I'm pleased that they share our ambition and vision for the future of our business. They have a strong track record of success in the sector, and I look forward to ongoing and positive engagement with th