What does Bharti Airtel do?
Bharti Airtel is a telecom company with mobile, home broadband, enterprise and digital TV services in India and, through Airtel Africa, in 14 African countries 119. It had 692.58 million customers at the end of September 2026 17. It is the flagship of Bharti Enterprises, founded by Sunil Bharti Mittal 2.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Launched | 1995, mobile service in Delhi 6 |
| Chairman | Sunil Bharti Mittal 8 |
| MD and CEO | Shashwat Sharma, since 1 January 2026 15 |
| Promoter stake | 50.07%, September 2026 7 |
| Customers | 692.58 million, September 2026 17 |
| Mobile ARPU | ₹271, July-September 2026 18 |
| FY26 revenue | ₹2,10,973 crore 27 |
Who owns Bharti Airtel?
Promoters held 50.07% at the end of September 2026, with no shares pledged. The largest holder is Bharti Telecom with 39.51%, followed by Singtel’s Pastel with 7.31% and Indian Continent Investment with 3.25% 7. Bharti Telecom is 50.56% owned by the Mittal family’s Bharti Enterprises and 49.44% by Singtel 38. Sunil Mittal said in May 2026 that he wants Bharti Telecom to own about 51% of Airtel again 8. See who owns Airtel.
How did Bharti Airtel start?
Bharti began in 1976 as a maker of bicycle parts in Ludhiana 2. It moved into push-button telephones in the 1980s and launched the Airtel mobile service in Delhi in 1995 6. Airtel listed in 2002 and bought Zain’s African business for $10.7 billion in 2010 613. It later absorbed Telenor India and the mobile business of Tata Teleservices 13. See Airtel’s history.
Businesses
In September 2026 Airtel had 377.22 million mobile customers in India, 15.37 million home broadband customers and 15.56 million digital TV customers 17. Airtel Africa had 193.9 million customers 19. Airtel also controls Indus Towers and is building data centres through Nxtra 1425. See Airtel’s businesses.
Results
Airtel reported FY26 revenue of ₹2,10,973 crore 27. Its own release gave net income before exceptional items of ₹26,904 crore, up 53% 1. In July-September 2026 revenue rose 17% to ₹60,878 crore and profit after exceptional items was ₹8,887.5 crore 1718. See finances.
Disputes
Airtel’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, set after a 2019 Supreme Court ruling, total ₹43,980 crore including interest and penalties; the court dismissed its plea for a waiver in May 2025 31. In March 2026 the telecom ministry refused Airtel the relief given to Vodafone Idea; Airtel had cited errors in the calculation 32. In July 2024 Airtel denied a hacker’s claim of a data breach, calling it a desperate attempt to damage its reputation 33.
Rivals
TRAI data for September 2026 show Reliance’s Jio with 39.32% of wireless subscribers, Airtel 38.02%, Vodafone Idea 15.39% and BSNL 7.25% 21. See Reliance, competitors, leadership and deals.
See also technology and software and all companies.
