Section 34
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Moved from bicycle crankshafts in Ludhiana to building Airtel, a leading mobile network. (Bharti Airtel)
- life
- Born 1957
- era
- 1991 to 2010
- 18
- Age when he started his first business · 1976
- ₹2 crore
- Sales cap on his first cordless-phone licence · 1980s
The story
In 1976, at 18, Sunil Mittal started a small unit in Ludhiana making bicycle crankshafts with money borrowed from his father. He later said bicycle makers set the prices suppliers could get.
In 1980 he moved to Bombay and spent two to three years importing steel, brass, zinc and plastics. He then sold portable generators until imports were banned, which ended that business.
He spotted push-button telephones at a Taiwan trade fair and brought them to India, then moved into cordless phones and fax machines. When the government opened telecom in 1992, he bid for a mobile licence. By 1996 his company's 'AirTel' cellular service was running commercially in Delhi.
In a 2008 Wharton interview he said: 'When faced with a choice between perfection and speed, choose speed; perfection will follow.'
Timeline
- 1976Starts making bicycle crankshafts in Ludhiana.
- 1980Moves to Bombay and starts an import business.
- 1992Bids for a mobile licence as telecom opens up.
- 1996AirTel cellular service is running commercially in Delhi.
- 2008Bharti Airtel is India's largest mobile operator and flagship of a $5 billion group.