Bharti Airtel Chairman Plans 50%+ Promoter Stake

New Delhi, India -- Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal outlined a long-term succession plan during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call this week, expressing his desire for promoter firm Bharti Telecom to regain a controlling stake of over 50 percent in the telecom giant within the next decade as he prepares to hand over leadership to the next generation.

Bharti Telecom, owned by the Mittal family and Singapore's Singtel Group, currently holds a 40.47 percent stake in Airtel, with promoter entities collectively owning 48.87 percent. Mittal, who founded the Bharti Group in 1976, emphasized consolidating holdings from family firms like Indian Continent Investment and Singtel-linked entities such as Pastel under Bharti Telecom. "My own wish is that in the next decade as I kind of come to a point where I hand over the reins to the next generation as shareholders, Bharti Telecom should get back to controlling shareholding of 51 per cent or just over 50 per cent," he said.

Achieving this target, which Mittal described as requiring around Rs 1 lakh crore based on current market values, would depend on Airtel's operational performance under its executive team. He...