Sunil Bharti Mittal is the founder and chairperson of Bharti Enterprises, India’s largest telecom company that deals in various sectors like telecom, financial services, and retail. Born in a political family, he is the first one to venture into the business sector. Sunil Bharti is popularly known as the ‘King of Indian telecom’ with his flagship company Bharti Airtel which operates in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. A philanthropist by nature, he is actively involved in educating the weaker sections of the society through Bharti Foundation.
Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Early Life
Sunil Bharti began his business life all by himself with proper preparations and determination.
He reclaimed his surname ‘Mittal’ much later in his life, as he wanted to do something different and not follow his father’s path.
Sunil had an inclination towards business since his teenage days.
Sunil Bharti’s Educational Qualifications
Sunil joined the Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie, and later shifted to Scindia School, Gwalior.
In 1976, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Science from Punjab University, Chandigarh from Arya College, Ludhiana.
Sunil Bharti’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Sunil was business-minded from a very young age. He started his first business at the age of 18 in April 1976. He borrowed a capital investment of Rs 20,000 from his father to import scraps and bicycle parts.
Eventually, he started to sell stainless steel sheets in Mumbai.
In 1980, Sunil along with his brothers started an import enterprise called, Bharti Overseas Trading Company. He purchased importing license from exporting companies in Punjab in 1981.
Later he made a deal with Suzuki Motors and imported thousands of their electronic power generators from Japan and soon became a millionaire.
Sunil came across a push-button phone in Taiwan in 1984 and started assembling the same type in India. He started with Bharti Telecom Limited and by the early 1990s, he was manufacturing fax machines, cordless phones, etc.
He partnered with a French telecom group, Vivendi, and launched services in Delhi in 1995 with Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel.
Sunil launched the country’s first private national as well as the international long-distance service provider, ‘IndiaOne’, and brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India.
Over the years his enterprise became the largest telecom service provider in India.
Currently, Sunil is the Vice Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and is also the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Trade & Industry, World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, and Telecom Board of International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
His enterprise has joint ventures with several global leaders like SingTel, SoftBank, AXA and Del Monte, and others.
Sunil’s philanthropic branch of Bharti Group — Bharti Foundation, operates more than 254 schools and provides education to over 46,000 children from weaker sections of the society.
Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Awards and Achievements
Padma Bhushan, Government of India, 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, 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
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