Oct. 2015 Vol. X No. 2 IMPACT FACTOR 3.860 ISSN (P) : 0973-4503 ISSN (E) : 2454-1702 RNI : UPENG 2006/17831 Biographien Sunil Bharti Mittal b. 23 October, 1957 Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Indian entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, which has interests in telecom, retail, financial services, and agri business. Bharti Airtel, the group’s flagship company, is a global telecommunications company with operations across South Asia and Africa. Bharti has joint ventures with several global leaders: Singtel, SoftBank, AXA and Del Monte. Sunil is currently the Vice Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He also serves on the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Trade & Industry, World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, Telecom Board of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Commissioner of the Broadband Commission, and the Singapore Prime Minister’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council. He has been appointed by the Prime Minister of India as Co-Chair of the India-Africa Business Council and India-Sri Lanka CEO Forum as well as member of the India-US, India-UK and India-Japan CEO Forums. Earlier, he served as the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII, 2007-08), the premier industry body in India. Sunil is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian award (2007). He has also been awarded the INSEAD Business Leader for the World Award 2011 and the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award 2011 for “Corporate Conscience”. Earlier, he received the Global Economy Prize 2009 by The Kiel Institute, Germany and the US-India Business Council also honored him with the ‘Global Vision’ Award 2008. Sunil has received the GSM Association Chairman’s Award for 2008. Asia Businessman of the Year, Fortune Magazine, 2006; Telecom Person of the Year, Voice & Data, 2006; CEO of the year, Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT awards, 2006; Best Asian Telecom CEO, Telecom Asia Awards, 2005; Best CEO, India, Institutional Investor, 2005; Business Leader Of The Year, Economic Times, 2005; Philanthropist of the Year Award, The Asian Awards, 2010. He is also a member of the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs, Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Sunil Mittal was born in Punjabi Aggarwal Family. His father, Sat Paul Mittal, had been the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Indian National Congress) from Punjab; he was elected from Punjab for two terms (1976 & 1982) and nominated to the Rajya Sabha once (1988). He attended the Wynberg Allen School at Mussoorie, Scindia School at Gwalior and he graduated in 1976 from Arya College, Ludhiana (Panjab University, Chandigarh). An alumnus of Harvard Business School, Sunil is on Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council, Board of Dean’s Advisors of Harvard Business School and Executive Board of the Indian School of Business. He is also a Trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Foundation Endowment. 108 www.jctindia.org Journal of Commerce & Trade Oct. 2015 Vol. X No. 2 IMPACT FACTOR 3.860 ISSN (P) : 0973-4503 ISSN (E) : 2454-1702 RNI : UPENG 2006/17831 A first generation entrepreneur, Mittal started his first business in April 1976 at the age of 18, with a capital investment of Rs. 20000 (US$300) borrowed from his father. His first business was to make crankshafts for local bicycle manufacturers. In 1980, he along with his brothers Rakesh, Rajan started an Import Enterprise named Bharti Overseas Trading Company. He sold his bicycle parts and yarn factories and moved to Mumbai. In 1981, he purchased importing licences from exporting companies in Punjab. He then imported thousands of Suzuki Motors’s portable electric-power generators from Japan. The importing of generators was suddenly banned by the then Indian Government. In 1984, he started assembling push-button phones in India, which he earlier used to import from a Taiwan company, Kingtel, replacing the old fashioned, bulkyrotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s, Mittal was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. Mittal says, He started marketing telephones, answering/fax machines under the brand name Beetel and the company picked up really fast. He named his first push-button phones as ‘Mitbrau’. Mittal was one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth area. His plans were finally approved by the Government in 1994 and he launched services in Delhi in 1995, when Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel. Within a few years Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2-million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti also brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India under brand name ‘Indiaone’. In June 2010, Bhartil led by Mittal acquired the African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion making it the largest ever acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. In 2012, Bharti tied up with Wal-Mart, the US retail giant, to start a number of retail stores across India. Sunil believes that a responsible corporate has a duty to give back to the community in which it operates. Mittal has also been working towards educating India through the Bharti Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of the Bharti Group. The Foundation has established over 254 schools in villages across India and offers free quality education with free books, uniform and mid day meals to poor children. Sunil was ranked among the Top 25 Philanthropists in the World in 2009 by the Barron’s Magazine. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of Qatar’s Education Above All Foundation, an initiative of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Mittal has a deep passion for his work. In spite of this fact, he is a very calm and down to earth person. He practices Yoga in the morning and this gives him the power to think confidently. He thanks his family for all the support and love they gave him all through his life. Mittal always dreams big, but executes each step very slowly and efficiently. He trusts his work and this is the reason for all his success in his life. The main mantra of his life is to take risks and to stay mentally alert. He presents to be a torch bearer for the young and potential entreprenurs of India. m Journal of Commerce & Trade www.jctindia.org 109.