As India’s economy has risen in recent decades, so have a clutch of billionaires who control key industries. For Sunil Bharti Mittal, the rise might appear almost foreordained: Bharti is derived from Bharat, the Hindi name for India.
Mittal used his middle name for Bharti Enterprises, the conglomerate he started in 1976 as a small manufacturer. But it is in telecoms where he made his fortune as India’s demand for data has boomed. Bharti Airtel counted 400 million Indian customers last year, 150 million in Africa, plus another 60 million in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Bharti will become the largest shareholder in BT Group, after agreeing to buy out Patrick Drahi, the art-loving Moroccan-born billionaire whose debt-laden Altice empire is under pressure. Bharti insisted it is not planning a full takeover, but the 24.5% stake will give Mittal significant influence over one of the UK’s most important companies.
Mittal already spends much of his time in the UK, according to Fortune India magazine, and he has British financial interests, particularly in hospitality. Bharti owns the famous Gleneagles hotel in Scotland and The Hoxton chain of “budget-luxe” hotels, after purchases led by Mittal’s son-in-law, Sharan Pasricha.
Mittal was born in 1957 in India’s Punjab region to Sat Pal Mittal, a politician known as a fundraiser and fixer for the Congress party, which dominated Indian politics for a century until the victory of the Bharatiya Janata party under Narendra Modi in 2014.
After graduating from Panjab University, Mittal did not follow his father into politics, but instead in 1976 – aged 19 – he started a business making bicycle components. He then launched a series of ventures selling wool blankets, stainless steel surgical equipment and generators. However, in 1985, he moved into telecoms after being convinced of the potential for growth during a visit to Taiwan, according to a profile by Harvard Business School, where he later studied.
Mittal (no relation to the steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal) grew the business by partnering with international companies to grow a mobile network that claims to cover 96% of India’s population. The company expanded into Africa in 2010 through a $10bn (£7.8bn) takeover.
Modi’s patronage is often cited as an important factor in the rise of India’s two richest men, Mukesh Ambani, the owner of the rival Reliance Jio mobile network and extensive commodities interests, and Gautam Adani, whose main business is coal. While Mittal’s association is not quite as close, he too has spoken publicly of the influence of India’s prime minister.
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Bharti will voluntarily put the BT deal forward for assessment under the UK’s National Security and Investment Act, but the government has previously proved happy to work with the Indian conglomerate. Under Boris Johnson, the UK government controversially joined Bharti in a joint venture to acquire OneWeb, a low-earth orbit satellite company that had gone bankrupt. The then business secretary, Alok Sharma, said Bharti was a “large and trusted investor” in 2020.
Mittal has described his investments in “last-mile connectivity” as an attempt to close the world’s digital divide – an honourable aim, but one that could also reap even bigger dividends for those who own the ever-increasing number of connections.