Success story of Sunil Bharati Mittal 

Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder, Chairman and Managing

Director of Bharti Group can be labelled as the most

ambitious telecom entrepreneur in India. Sunil a former

student of Harvard Business School, graduated from

Punjab University. The son of a parliamentarian, Sunil

did not want to follow his father’s footsteps. He had

shown an interest in business even from his teenage

days. So after graduation,Sunil got together with his

friend and formed a small bicycle business with

borrowed capital in the1970s. But by 1979, he realized

that this business would remain small. So he moved out

of Ludhiana, spent a few years in Mumbai and in 1981,

was running an import and distribution operation out of

New Delhi and Mumbai.

By 1982, Mittal had started a full-fledged business

selling portable generators imported from Japan and

that gave him the chance to involve himself in activities

like marketing and advertising. Things went smoothly

until the government banned the import of generators

as two Indian companies were awarded licenses to

manufacture generators locally.

Sunil Mittal got interested in push button phones while

on a trip to Taiwan, and in 1982, introduced the phones

to India, replacing the old fashioned, bulky rotary

phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti

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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.

The turning point came in 1992 when the Indian

government was awarding licenses for mobile phone

services for the first time. One of the conditions for the

Delhi cellular license was that the bidder have some

experience as a telecom operator. Mittal clinched a deal

with the French telecom group Vivendi. Two years later,

Sunil secured rights to serve New Delhi. In 1995, 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. The company is

also instrumental in bringing down the high STD/ISD,

cellular rates in the country by rolling the countries first

private national as well as international long-distance

service under the brand name IndiaOne. In 2001, the

company entered into a joint venture with Singapore

Telecom International for a $650-million submarine

cable project, the countries first ever undersea cable

link connecting Chennai in India and Singapore.

Always on the move and making an impact and

excelling in whatever he did, this clear thinking risk

taker has changed the face of the Indian ICT space. For

his contributions he has been honoured with several

awards. He was chosen as one of the top entrepreneurs

in the world for the year 2000 and amongst ‘Stars Of

Asia’, by ‘Business Week’, he received IT Man of the

Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO Of the Year,

2002 Award (World HRD Congress). He is the member

of National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry

(CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &

Industry (FICCI), Chairman, Indo-US Joint Business

Council, Member, Advisory Committee constituted by

Ministry of IT. Mittal has to his credit the breaking up of

the 100 year old monopoly of state run companies to

operate telecom services in India. Now he heads a

successful empire focused on different areas of

business through independent Joint Venture companies

with a market capitalization of approximately $ 2 billion,

employing over 5,000 people and still growing. Bharti

Foundation has funded over 50 schools in Madhya

Pradesh and also donated Rs 200 million to IIT Delhi for

building a Bharti School of Technology and

Management.

In spite of his deep involvement in work, Mittal the

man, is calm, seldom ruffled and very down to earth. He

says he achieves a sense of detachment and peace with

regular practice of yoga. He is thankful for a supportive

family including a daughter and twin sons, with whom

understandably he doesn’t get much time to spend. His

brothers Rakesh and Rajan are with him in the

business.

 

He is a pioneer, a dreamer, an achiever. Ranked 125th

in the Forbes list, Sunil Bharti Mittal is not a man to rest

on his laurels. Whenever the next big revolution is

happening, he is there busy being a part of it. What

inspires and drives this trailblazer? We hear it in his

own words.

Practice is the real thing, rest is all theory. I didn’t go to

a B-school, instead learnt lessons on the streets and at

every opportunity, tried to assimilate, gather and

absorb some of the practices that were required to

create an enterprise.

I dream BIG. Everything beings with a small step, but

you have to dream big to take a leap. I graduated from

Punjab University. After graduation, I along with my

friend formed a small bicycle business with borrowed

capital in the 1970s. But by 1979, I realized that this

business would remain small. I moved out of Ludhiana,

and tried other things so that I would be noticed.

Trust your reflexes. In 1982, I had a full-fledged

business selling portable generators imported from

Japan. This gave me a chance to be involved in activities

like marketing and advertising. Things were smoothly

until the government banned the import of generators

as two other Indian companies were awarded licenses

to manufacture generators locally. Then I made it a

point that whenever the opportunity knocks on the door

next time, I will be ready for it. The turning point came

in 1992 when the government was awarding licenses

for mobile phone services for the first time. I took that

up immediately.

Recognition is momentary. You have to move on to

achieve more, take more risks and be mentally

alert. Being featured in the Forbes, or receiving the IT

Man of the Year Award did make me feel great. It was a

momentary high. Right now I just have competition

here in India, but I have to work hard to that I am the

competition from India for the world.

Everything comes at a price, even a smile. A boy of 8 or

9 years selling roses at the signals can make anybody

feel worthless. How could I sit back in my chair and just

run my business when the next generation of this

country still hasn’t made its foundation? You can dream

of a beautiful India, but you have to wake up from your

dream to make it beautiful.

Salute to Mr Laxmi Bharati Mittal... 

 

Source - Changeminds