Sunil Bharti Mittal (born 23 October 1957) is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder and chairperson of
Bharti Enterprises
Bharti Enterprises is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across manufacturing, telecommunications, agribusiness, real estate, hos ...
, which has diversified interests in telecom, insurance, real estate, education, malls, hospitality, Agri and food besides other ventures.
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...
, the group's flagship company is one of the world's largest and India's largest telecom company with operations in 18 countries across
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
with a customer base of over 399 million. Bharti Airtel clocked revenues of over in FY2016. In 2022 he was ranked the 11th richest person in India by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', with an estimated net worth of .
In 2007, he was awarded the
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
, India's third highest civilian honor. On 15 June 2016, he was elected as Chairman of the
International Chamber of Commerce
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every s ...
.
Early life
Sunil Bharti Mittal was born in intercaste
Agarwal
Agrawal (anglicised as Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal, Agarawala) is a Bania community found throughout northern, central and western India, mainly in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Hi ...
-
Khatri
Khatri is a caste of the Indian subcontinent that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantilistic professions such as banking and trade, they were the d ...
family. His ,father,
Sat Paul Mittal, had been the
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the Indian states to the one of the two houses of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha). Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by the electoral college of the elected ...
(
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
) from
Ludhiana, Punjab
Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...
, he was elected from Punjab for two terms (1976 & 1982) and nominated to the Rajya Sabha once (1988). He first joined the
Wynberg Allen School
Wynberg-Allen School is a boarding school in India, founded in 1888. It is located at Bala hissar in Mussoorie, India. The alumni of Wynberg Allen School are known as Alwynians.
History
From a meeting in Kanpur in 1887 of friends, Mr. Powe ...
in
Mussoorie
Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill st ...
,
but later attended
Scindia School
The Scindia School is an Indian boarding school for boys, established in year 1897, and situated in the historic Gwalior Fort, in the city of Gwalior. It was originally started exclusively for royals and nobles of Indian princely states, part ...
at
Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
and he graduated in 1976 from
Panjab University
Panjab University (PU) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both Punjab, India, State and Government of India, Union governments, it is considered a state university (Indi ...
, Chandigarh, with a Bachelor of Arts and Science for which he studied in
Arya College, Ludhiana
This college in Ludhiana is a college located in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. It was built in 1946. The members of the Arya Samaj got together in 1945 and decided to build the college which would cater to the needs of many people in Ludhiana.
The ...
.
His father died of cardiac arrest in 1992.
[
]
Entrepreneurial ventures
A first-generation entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
, Sunil started his first business in April 1976 at the age of 18, with a capital investment of borrowed from his father. His first business was to make crankshafts for local bicycle manufacturers.
In 1980, he along with his brothers Rakesh Mittal and Rajan Mittal
Rajan Bharti Mittal (born in 1960) is a first-generation Indian entrepreneur serving as vice chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises.
Rajan graduated from Punjab University and completed his masters at Harvard Business School. Raja ...
started an Import Enterprise named Bharti Overseas Trading Company. He sold his bicycle parts and yarn factories and moved to Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
.[ In 1981, he purchased importing licenses from exporting companies in Punjab.][ He then imported thousands of ]Suzuki Motors
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal com ...
's portable electric-power generator
Generator may refer to:
* Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
* Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
* Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
s from Japan. The importing of generators was suddenly banned by the then Indian Government.
In 1984, he started assembling push-button phones in India,[ which he earlier used to import from a Taiwan company, Kingtel, replacing the old fashioned, bulky rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with ]Siemens AG
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s, Sunil was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. Sunil says, "In 1983, the government imposed a ban on the import of gensets. I was out of business overnight. Everything I was doing came to a screeching halt. I was in trouble. The question then was: what should I do next? Then, opportunity came calling. While in Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, I noticed the popularity of the push-button phone – something which India hadn't seen then. We were still using those rotary dials with no speed dials or redials. I sensed my chance and embraced the telecom business. I started marketing telephones, answering/fax machines under the brand name Beetel and the company picked up really fast.".[ He named his first push-button phones as 'Mitbrau'.]
In 1992, he successfully bid for one of the four mobile phone network licenses auctioned in India.[ One of the conditions for the ]Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
cellular license was that the bidder have some experience as a telecom operator. So, Mittal clinched a deal with the French telecom group Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
. He was one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth area. His plans were finally approved by the Government in 1994[ and he launched services in Delhi in 1995, when Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name ]AirTel
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...
in 1997. Within a few years Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2-million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti also brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India under brand name 'Indiaone'.[
In May 2008, it emerged that Sunil Bharti Mittal was exploring the possibility of buying the ]MTN Group
MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...
, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. ''The Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...
'' reported that Bharti was considering offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest overseas acquisition ever by an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasize the tentative nature of the talks, while ''The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage. However, the talks fell apart as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company. In May 2009, Bharti Airtel again confirmed that it was in talks with MTN and the companies agreed to discuss the potential transaction exclusively by 31 July 2009. Talks eventually ended without agreement, some sources stating that this was due to opposition from the South African government.
In June 2010, Bharti led by Mittal acquired the African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion (enterprise value) making it the largest ever acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. In 2012, Bharti tied up with Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, the US retail giant, to start a number of retail stores across India. In 2014, Bharti planned to acquire Loop Mobile
Loop or LOOP may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live
* Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets
* Loop Mobile, an ...
for INR 7 billion, but the deal was called off later. His son Kavin Bharti Mittal
Kavin Bharti Mittal is an Indian internet entrepreneur, He is the founder and CEO of ''Hike'', the company behind Indian unicorn Hike Messenger and the Rush Gaming Universe (RGU), a mobile gaming application, which has plans to come on-chain in ...
is the CEO and founder of hike Messenger
Hike Messenger, also called Hike Sticker Chat, was an Indian freeware, cross-platform instant messaging (IM), Voice over IP (VoIP) application which was launched on 12 December, 2012 by Kavin Bharti Mittal and is now owned by Hike Private Limi ...
.
In September 2010, Mittal's son, Shravin Mittal, joined Bharti Airtel as a manager having worked for Merrill Lynch in New York and Ernst & Young in London.
In 2012, Mittal took Bharti Infratel public with an IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
that raised $760 million. Mittal noted that the sale, considered by many to be only a modest success, was a "strong endorsement from qualified investors". The board was restructured ahead of the IPO with Mittal remaining as Chairman and Managing Director. After the IPO, shares of Bharti Infratel dropped sharply at the commencement of trading.
In 2013, Mittal was ordered to appear before a special Delhi court to answer questions about the additional allocation of airwaves to certain companies. Allegations against Mittal state that there had been collusion with key telecoms officials in the government to illegally secure an extra spectrum. No charges were issued against Mittal, however the trial court judge noted that there was enough material on record to proceed.
In late 2013, Mittal announced the acquisition of Warid Congo, making Bharti Airtel the largest telecoms provider in the Republic of Congo.
In 2015, Sunil Mittal announced that he would be joining the board of Oneweb, a space internet company. Mittal was one of the investors in a $500 million investment round that included Coca-Cola, Virgin and Qualcomm.
In 2016, Mittal made changes at Bharti Airtel to enable the company to compete against the launch of Jio
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, doing business as Jio, is an Indian telecommunications company and a subsidiary of Jio Platforms, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It operates a national LTE network with coverage across all 2 ...
. in the race to become India's largest telecom company.
In 2017, Mittal announced "war on roaming" by scrapping charges for outgoing and incoming calls within India as well as international roaming charges.
Philanthropy
Mittal has also been working towards educating India through the Bharti Foundation
Bharti Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises, an Indian business conglomerate based in New Delhi. It conducts free programs in both primary and higher education for the underprivileged children, with a particular focus on girls. ...
, which is the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises. The Foundation has established schools in villages across India and offers free quality education with free books, uniform and mid day meals to poor children.
Satya Bharti School Program' – the Foundation's flagship program is running 254 schools in six States serving over 45,000 rural children, free of cost. The other educational initiatives including the – Satya Bharti School, Quality Support and Learning Centre Programs, are currently reaching out to over underprivileged children in 11 states. Other Program of the Foundation making considerable impact among the underprivileged sections is – 'Satya Bharti Abhiyan' (Sanitation).
In 2017, the Bharti Family pledged 10% of their wealth (approx. Rs 70 billion) towards Philanthropy to set up Satya Bharti University, a world-class University to offer education to deserving youth from economically weaker sections of society
Mittal has been married "for decades" to Nyna Mittal, a philanthropist who focuses on education. The couple has one daughter and two sons, who are twins, born August 31, 1987. The daughter, Eiesha Bharti Pasricha, a "lifestyle investor," lives in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
with her husband, businessman Sharan Pasricha, and their two children. One son, Kavin Bharti Mittal
Kavin Bharti Mittal is an Indian internet entrepreneur, He is the founder and CEO of ''Hike'', the company behind Indian unicorn Hike Messenger and the Rush Gaming Universe (RGU), a mobile gaming application, which has plans to come on-chain in ...
, is an entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Hike, a New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
-headquartered tech and internet startup. The other son, Shravin Bharti Mittal, is the founder and CEO of Unbound, a London-based venture capital and private equity firm, and a director of Bharti Global Ltd, a London-headquartered firm in the Bharti corporate family. He was reportedly instrumental in the successful acquisition of OneWeb
OneWeb (legally Network Access Associates Ltd) is a communications company that aims to build broadband satellite Internet services. The company is headquartered in London, and has offices in Virginia, US and a satellite manufacturing facility ...
. In April 2015, in Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, Shavrin married Sakshi Chhabra.
Awards and recognition
* Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
, Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
, 2007
* Transforming India Leader, NDTV Business Leader Awards
* GSM Association's chairman's Award, 2008
* Asia Businessman of the Year, Fortune Magazine, 2006
* Telecom Person of the Year, Voice & Data magazine (India), 2006
* CEO of the year, Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT awards, 2006
* CEO of the year, 2005–06, Business Standard
* Best Asian Telecom CEO, Telecom Asia Awards, 2005
* Best C.E.O, India, Institutional Investor, 2005
* Business Leader of the Year, Economic Times, 2005
* Philanthropist of the Year Award, The Asian Awards
The Asian Awards is an annual award ceremony for the global Asian community which takes place in the United Kingdom, with 14 categories that include business, philanthropy, entertainment, culture and sport. Nominees are selected by an independen ...
, 2010
* INSEAD Business Leader Award, 2011
* Honoris Causa Doctorate of Sciences (D.Sc.) Degree, Amity University Gurgaon, 2016
* Honoris Causa Doctorate of Sciences (D.Sc.) Degree, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, J&K, 2018
* Doctor Honoris Causa, ESCP Business School, ESCP Europe, Paris, 2018
* Global Mobile Industry Honours Sunil Bharti Mittal for his contributions to the Global Mobile Industry as Chairman of the GSMA Board, 2019
Industry associations and affiliations
* Chairman, GSM Association
The GSM Association (commonly referred to as 'the GSMA' or ''Global System for Mobile Communications'', originally ''Groupe Spécial Mobile'') is an industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide. More ...
, 2017–19
* Honorary Chairman, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
* Member, Telecom Board of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the leading UN agency for Information and Communication Technology Commissioner, Broadband Commission for Sustainable Digital Development at ITU
* Chair, World Economic Forum's Telecommunications Steering Committee
* Member, International Business Council, World Economic Forum
* Member, Board of Directors, Qatar Foundation Endowment
* Member, Board of Directors, SoftBank Corp. (2011–2013)
* Member, Board of Directors, Unilever PLC and Unilever NV (2011–2013)
* Member, International Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors, NYSE Euronext (2008– 2011)
* Member, Board of Directors, Standard Chartered Bank Plc (2007–2009)
* Member, Board of Directors, Hero Honda Motors (2006–2009)
* President, Confederation of Indian Industry
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895.
CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global ...
(CII) (2007–2008)
* Co-chairman, Annual Meeting, World Economic Forum, Davos (2007)
* Member, Board of Global GSM Association (2003–2007)
Academia
* Member, Global Advisory Council, Harvard University
* Member, Vice Chancellor’s Circle of Advisors on India, University of Cambridge
* Member, Board of Dean Advisors, Harvard Business School (2010 – 2019)
* Member, Governing Body, London Business School (2010 – 2013)
Global Trade
* Co-Chair, Trade & Investment Development Task Force, B20 Argentina (2018)
* Co-Chair, Trade & Investment Development Task Force, B20 Germany (2017)
* Co-Chair, SME Development Taskforce, B20 China (2016)
References
External links
at Bharti Enterprises
Bharti Enterprises is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across manufacturing, telecommunications, agribusiness, real estate, hos ...
Profile
at Bharti Enterprises
Bharti Enterprises is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across manufacturing, telecommunications, agribusiness, real estate, hos ...
Profile
at Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
Sunil Mittal
collected news and commentary at ''The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
''
Sunil Mittal Profile and Photographs
Sunil Mittal Biography and Success Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mittal, Sunil
1957 births
Living people
Marwari people
Indian billionaires
Businesspeople from Ludhiana
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry
Panjab University alumni
Scindia School alumni
Indian businesspeople in telecommunications
Unilever people
Indian corporate directors
Indian chief executives
Indian chairpersons of corporations
20th-century Indian businesspeople
21st-century Indian businesspeople
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Bharti Enterprises
Punjabi Hindus
Aggarwal