Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Airtel, on Thursday said that he plans to hand over the reins of the telecom giant to the next generation in the next decade or so, and desires for promoter firm Bharti Telecom to regain over 50 per cent stake in the company.
Owned by his family and Singtel Group, Bharti Telecom at present holds 40.47 per cent stake in Airtel. The promoter firms, including Bharti Telecom, the Mittal family-holding firm Indian Continent Investment (ICIL), the Singtel Group firm Pastel, and others jointly hold a 48.87 per cent stake in Airtel.
“My own wish is that in the next next decade I hand over the reins to the next generation and shareholders, Bharti Telecom should get back to controlling shareholding 51 per cent or just over 50 per cent. So, there is 10 per cent more to go. And, for a company of this magnitude and size, you can imagine that is not a small task,” Mittal responded to a question in a post earnings call with analysts.
The 68-year-old telecom czar has been reappointed Chairman for another five years till September 30, 2031. His current term as Airtel Chairman was due to expire on September 30.
“Direction or vision that I carry is [that] all [the] share from both the ICIL or Bharti family entities and Singtel should go into Bharti Telecom as much as possible. Singtel had a difference of about 7 per cent or rather has 7 per cent direct take in Airtel and it had about 6 per cent to equalise. Once this transaction is done and share issued, this gap comes down to 3.6 per cent,” Mittal explained.
Airtel Africa
Meanwhile, Mittal also said that acquiring more stakes in Airtel Africa is a win-win situation for the shareholders and going forward, the target is to acquire 90 per cent stake there.
The Board of Airtel on Wednesday approved raising the company’s stake in Airtel Africa by 16.31 per cent to around 79 per cent through a share swap agreement worth ₹28,220 crore, from the current 62.73 per cent.
“The Africa transaction, announced yesterday, is akin to acquiring another large company. This transaction takes us to approximately 78 per cent ownership in Airtel Africa. Our ambition should eventually be to move closer to the 90 per cent threshold permitted under UK regulations. That would allow more income to flow back to the Bharti Airtel shareholders. Between India and Africa, reaching 800 million customers across mobile, broadband, digital services and financial services is a visible dream,” he added.
Shares of Airtel closed at ₹1,883.25 apiece on the BSE on Thursday, up 5.32 per cent from the previous close.
Published on May 14, 2026