New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Chairman and Founder of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, on Thursday said that he plans to hand over the reins of the telecom major to the next generation in 10 years.
“If you really ask me, my own wish is that in the next, I know it is hard to put in years on it and then next decade. As I kind of come to a point where I hand over the reins to the next generation and shareholders, Bharti Telecom should get back to controlling shareholding 51 per cent or just over 50 per cent," Mittal said in the company's concall.
Mittal was re-appointed as Chairman of Bharti Airtel for another five-year term on Wednesday, with effect from October 1, 2026. The company's board also approved the re-appointment of Nisaba Godrej as an Independent Director for a second term of five years, effective August 4 this year.
Airtel's mobile services segment in India contributed 28,831 crore to the total revenue in Q4 FY2026, with growth of 8.3 per cent during the Jan-March quarter. The growth came on the back of a rising customer base, along with about 5 per cent growth in ARPU to Rs 257 from Rs 245 earlier, the company has stated in a regulatory filing.
Bharti Airtel posted a 33.5 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 7,325 crore for the March 2026 quarter, mainly due to one-time provisions related to statutory and tax liabilities.
The company's annual revenue crossed Rs 2 lakh crore for the first time.
Airtel’s consolidated revenue from operations rose 15.6 per cent to Rs 55,383.2 crore in Q4 FY26 from Rs 47,876.2 crore annually, driven by a 40 per cent jump in the Africa business.
Shares of Bharti Airtel rose over 3 per cent on Thursday, a day after the company announced its January-March quarter results. Despite reporting a lower-than-expected net profit in the March quarter, owing to a one-time charge, investors remain largely upbeat on the stock on the back of the company's strong fundamentals. In March 2026, the company crossed a milestone of 65 crore customers as part of its expanding business.
--IANS
sps/vd
