India must seize Goldilocks moment: Bharti Enterprises chairman Mittal

INdia is at a “ linosyris vulgaris second” and must prehend it to come together merchandise deals, accelerate infrastructure investment, and build domestic AI capabilities to secure long-term economic gains, Bharti Enterprises chairman and founder Sunil Mittal said on Saturday.Speaking at the 23rd Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Mittal described the current environment as uniquely favourable. Economic growth in the second quarter was 8.2% while retail inflation came in at 0.25% in October. “It is a Goldilocks moment. Currently, growth is positive... Enough is going on in this country for us to get to that 2047 vision,” he said, referring to the government’s goal of Viksit (developed) Bharat by the time India completes 100 years as an independent nation. He added: “India has tremendous amount of animal spirits, which, if they are unshackled, can create dramatic improvements in our country.”Today, Mittal said, global partners view India “on equal terms”. “We have a leader who wants India to be the Viksit Bharat... What more can we ask for?”Mittal urged policymakers to rely on the vision and speed up reforms, warning that bottlenecks could slow the trajectory. “India must close all its trade deals... And invest absolutely heavily into infrastructure. Ease of doing business is very important,” he said.Tapping technologyMittal noted that the next wave of innovation will be shaped by AI-driven sensing networks capable of continuously interpreting the physical world. To prepare, he stressed that India must build its own digital backbone rather than relying entirely on foreign hyperscalers.“You have to build a massive amount of AI compute capacity... You will need to have a sovereign cloud,” Mittal said, warning that sensitive workloads such as banking, defence, and government services cannot rely solely on Google Cloud, Microsoft, or Amazon.Scaling infrastructureAs part of this push, Mittal said Airtel is scaling its digital infrastructure, with 250MW of operational data-centre capacity and a new 300MW facility under development in Andhra Pradesh.He also highlighted a collaboration with Perplexity Pro to democratise AI access. Under the tie-up, Airtel’s roughly 360 million customers receive 12 months of free access to the search engine, normally priced at ₹17,000 per year. The tool offers real-time answers, document analysis, and access to advanced models like GPT-4.1. This aligns with Airtel’s strategy to evolve from a telco into a domestic digital-infrastructure company.Mittal also underscored the importance of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. While the Bharti-backed OneWeb was an early mover, he acknowledged that Elon Musk’s Starlink changed the game by scaling rapidly. Describing LEO systems as “cell towers in space”, Mittal warned that telcos risk “missing a critical area of defence” if they fail to adapt.Reflecting on Airtel’s journey, Mittal recalled survival battles during 2002–03 and the 2016 entry of Reliance Jio, which triggered widespread consolidation. “Eight, nine players just completely got destroyed; I think we stood firm,” he said, attributing Airtel’s endurance to its motivated workforce.He also cited Airtel Africa’s turnaround. After a “bold bet” and a difficult first decade, the unit has emerged as a $15-billion entity.Looking ahead, Mittal set a target for Airtel to become the world’s first telecom company with 1 billion users. As of September 2025, Bharti Airtel had 364 million wireless customers in India. Quarterly revenue rose 25.7% year-on-year to ₹52,145 crore, while net profit surged 89% to ₹6,792 crore.Airtel also continues to lead the industry on average revenue per user (ARPU) at ₹256 per month, a 2.4% sequential increase compared to Jio’s ₹211.4. ARPU remains a critical profitability metric as the sector grapples with legacy issues such as adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.