Mittal Sets Decade-Long Plan for Airtel Control
Sunil Bharti Mittal said Bharti Telecom should regain majority ownership of Airtel before leadership moves to the next generation.
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Image Credit- Diksha Mishra/ MIT Sloan Management Review India
Sunil Bharti Mittal said Bharti Telecom should regain majority ownership of Bharti Airtel over the next decade, setting out a succession and control plan for one of India’s largest telecom companies.
Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, told analysts on Airtel’s March-quarter earnings call that the promoter entity should return to a controlling shareholding of just over 50% before leadership moves to the next generation.
“My wish is that in the next decade, as I come to a point where I hand over the reins to the next generation, Bharti Telecom should get back to a controlling shareholding of 51%, or just over 50%,” Mittal said.
His comments came after Bharti Airtel reappointed him as chairman for another five-year term from 1 October 2026. Mittal’s current term was due to end on 30 September.
Bharti Telecom currently owns 40.47% of Airtel. Together with Indian Continent Investment Ltd (ICIL), Singtel-backed Pastel and other promoter entities, the promoter group owns 48.87%.
Bharti Enterprises Holding and Singapore Telecommunications own 50.56% and 49.44%, respectively, in Bharti Telecom.
Singtel also holds a direct stake of about 7% in Bharti Airtel.
Mittal said raising Bharti Telecom’s stake by about 10 percentage points would require substantial capital, estimated at about ₹1 trillion based on Airtel’s current valuation.
The ownership comments came alongside Airtel’s plan to increase its stake in Airtel Africa. Bharti Airtel’s board has approved a ₹28,220 crore share-swap deal with ICIL, a promoter-group entity linked to the Mittal family.
Under the transaction, Airtel will issue new shares to ICIL in exchange for Airtel Africa shares. The deal will raise Bharti Airtel’s stake in Airtel Africa to about 79% from 62.73%.
Mittal said Airtel should eventually raise its ownership of Airtel Africa to as much as 90%, the level allowed under UK regulations.
“The UK regulations allow you to go up to 90%. With this move, we have gone up to 78%. Ambition for Airtel should be whatever is allowed to go up to 90%, they should get there,” Mittal said.
He said Airtel Africa’s buybacks and possible future purchases from other investors could help Airtel increase its ownership over the next several years, strengthening income flows to the parent company and improving returns for shareholders.
Mittal also signaled that Airtel would remain open to global telecom opportunities, arguing that companies should not rely only on dividends and buybacks when they can acquire valuable businesses in their own sectors.
“With dividends and buybacks, they become a shadow of themselves,” he said, referring to companies that focused heavily on shareholder payouts. “Many of those companies should have been buying leading-edge businesses in their own industry in the last 10-15 years.”
Bharti Airtel reported a 33.5% drop in consolidated net profit to ₹7,325 crore for the March quarter, weighed down by one-time legal and tax costs. Revenue rose 15.6% to ₹55,383 crore, while annual revenue crossed ₹2 trillion for the first time.
The company’s customer base rose 3.2% to 665 million, supported by growth in India and Africa and higher average revenue per user in its domestic mobile business.
