Meeting with PM Modi proved to be turning point for Bharti Airtel: Sunil Mittal
meeting with PM Narendra Modi in September 2018 proved a turning point for Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, which was facing an existential crisis at the time, the Bharti Group founder told ET.
Airtel was then reeling under the onslaught of free voice and data services offered by the then new entrant Reliance Jio and a series of decisions by the telecom regulator that adversely impacted the incumbent market leader, Mittal said.
"...in (September) 2018, I sought a meeting with the PM. I was still the chairman of GSMA...just coming out from the chairmanship of the International Chambers of Commerce, when I used to brief him (PM) occasionally on WTO, G20 and other issues. So, I took the liberty and took his permission to talk about the Indian telecom industry. I told him that things were going very badly and the situation was getting very alarming," Mittal told ET. He was referring to the free voice and data services being offered by Jio, which entered the telecom market in 2016, and a slew of regulations that, Mittal felt, favoured one side.
Recalling his meeting with Modi where both spoke in Hindi, Mittal said he told the PM: «I will fight in the marketplace, but I can't fight the government.»
«He told me that this government will not tilt towards either side. Whatever is good for the country will be done. You fight in the marketplace. I don't have a view on that. But from the side of the government, you can be sure that the government will not take sides,» Mittal said. «And that was enough for me. I got up
