Mittal unveils succession plan for Bharti

Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has said that members of the next generation of the Bharti family will become more visible 'at the shareholders'table' in the coming years, signalling a gradual succession plan within the group.

- Jatin Grover

Mittal said the younger family members would be mentored by him, executive vice-chairman Gopal Vittal, and the senior leadership team as they gradually assume larger roles. The comments offer the clearest indication yet of how succession planning is evolving at the Bharti Group, signalling continuity while retaining professional management oversight at one of India's largest telecom and diversified business conglomerates.

Speaking about succession planning as he approaches 70, Mittal said in a recent investor call with analysts that he still has 'some years left' to contribute to Bharti Airtel and Bharti Enterprises.

"The next generation of my family—a larger family—is all building muscle in different forms and shapes. They're running their own businesses, their own outfits and getting trained outside the system," Mittal told analysts in a call on 26 February. Calling it a 'unique experiment' unlike other Indian promoter entities, Mittal said, "all of them (Mittal family next-gen members) are learning their trade, their businesses in a manner, which I believe is the better way of being independent, autonomous, having their failures and successes, seeing the pain points of businesses, managing conflicts."

Mittal has two sons and a daughter.

Shravin Mittal founded London-headquartered investment firm Unbound and is also the managing director of Bharti Global, the international investment arm of group holding company Bharti Enterprises. He led the group's investment in satellite communication company OneWeb.