New Delhi, May 14: Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director of Airtel, announced on Thursday his intention to pass the leadership of the telecom giant to the next generation within the next decade.
During a company conference call, Mittal stated, “I want to hand over the company’s responsibilities to the new generation in the next 10 years.”
On Wednesday, he was reappointed as Chairman of Bharti Airtel for another five years, effective from October 1, 2026. The board also approved the reappointment of Nisaba Godrej as an independent director for a second term of five years, effective August 4 of this year.
Mittal expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s financial results for the fourth quarter (Q4) and emphasized that his focus will now be on increasing the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).
In the mobile services sector, Airtel contributed ₹28,831 crore to total revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, reflecting an 8.3% growth compared to the January-March quarter. The company reported that this increase was driven by a rise in the customer base and a nearly 5% increase in ARPU, which rose from ₹245 to ₹257.
However, Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net profit fell by 33.5% to ₹7,325 crore in the March quarter of fiscal year 2026, primarily due to one-time provisions related to statutory and tax liabilities.
On a positive note, the company’s annual revenue surpassed ₹2 lakh crore for the first time.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, Airtel’s consolidated revenue from operations grew by 15.6% to ₹55,383.2 crore, up from ₹47,876.2 crore during the same period last year. The strong growth in the Africa business, which saw a 40% increase, significantly contributed to this rise.
Following the release of the January-March quarter results, Airtel’s shares saw an increase of over 3% on Thursday.
Despite the net profit falling short of market expectations, investors remain optimistic about the company’s strong fundamentals. By March 2026, Airtel also surpassed the milestone of 650 million customers, reflecting its growing business.
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