IN THE BUSTLING industrial city of Ludhiana, in Indian Punjab, a teenage Sunil Bharti Mittal began his entrepreneurial journey making crankshafts for bicycles. Today, he stands at the helm of a global telecommunications empire that spans 18 countries across Asia and Africa and serves nearly 400 million customers.
The son of a Congress Party parliamentarian, Mittal demonstrated his business acumen early, starting his first venture in 1976 at just 18 years old. By 1980, he had moved to Mumbai, selling his bicycle parts and yarn factories to establish Bharti Overseas Trading Company with his brothers, Rakesh and Rajan.
But it was his prescient move into telecommunications that would transform him into one of India's most influential business leaders.
In 1984, when most Indian offices still featured clunky rotary phones, Mittal spotted an opportunity. He began assembling push-button landline phones through a technical partnership with Germany’s Siemens AG. This venture, however, was merely a prelude to his most significant gamble.
In 1992, when mobile phones were still a novelty, Mittal became one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to recognise the sector’s potential. He secured one of four coveted mobile network licences and launched services in Delhi under the brand name Airtel.
