‘Tariff repair remains important’: Airtel VC says as Sunil Mittal charts next big bets — financial services, data centre
After investing over ₹200 crore, Bharti Airtel is investing heavily in financial services, data centers and cloud as its next growth drivers ₹3.3 lakh crore of digital infrastructure in the last decade, chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in the company’s annual report released late on Saturday night.
The company also maintained its push for tariff repairs, although it said portfolio premiumization continued to drive strong growth in its mobility business.
“While tariff repair remains important to the long-term health of the industry, we have delivered growth through portfolio premiumization spanning feature phone to smartphone upgrades, postpaid growth, data monetization and expanding penetration of International Roaming,” Bharti Airtel Executive Vice President Gopal Vittal said in the report.
The telecom provider also announced that it achieved record revenue market share and added more than 11.6 million customers during the year.
Why does Airtel say India needs tariff repair?
Despite being one of the highest data consuming markets in the world, India continues to have the lowest mobile tariffs. According to Bharti Airtel, a more rational tariff framework is needed to improve the long-term financial health of the telecom sector and ensure sustainable investments in digital infrastructure.
The company also said continued policy and regulatory support is required to promote long-term capital formation and strengthen India’s digital backbone.
“Given that the telecommunications sector is subject to the most heavily taxed, continued policy and regulatory support remains critical to foster long-term capital formation,” the company said, adding that this support is expected to be crucial in sustaining India’s progress towards a more connected, inclusive and technologically advanced future.
What steps has the government taken to support this transformation?
The telecom provider also said the regulatory environment continues to support the structural transformation of the sector, citing initiatives such as the National Broadband Mission launched to accelerate digital connectivity across the country.
India’s ongoing policy emphasis on digital inclusion also plays a key role in strengthening connectivity between rural and underserved regions and expanding participation in the economy, the company said.
Additionally, in the Union Budget 2026-27, the government underlined its desire to position India as a global hub for artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure by proposing a tax holiday until 2047 for eligible foreign cloud service providers using India-based data centers for global operations.
Where is Bharti Airtel investing?
Bharti Airtel announced ₹20,000 crore has been invested in non-banking finance company Airtel Money, while data center Nxtra recently raised $1 billion (approx. ₹9,500 crore as part of a plan to build 1 gigawatt capacity).
“Over the last few years, we have taken a calibrated approach to create new growth engines for Airtel. These bold bets have delivered strong results and reinforced our belief in three adjacent regions – financial services, data centers and Airtel Cloud – where we believe Airtel has a clear right to win,” Mittal said in the report. he said.
He said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved Airtel Money to operate as a non-deposit-taking Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).
“Our third growth engine, Airtel Cloud, is seeing encouraging early traction. Our dominant, telco-grade cloud offering addresses an emerging need in the Indian market. Airtel Cloud allows our customers to access world-class cloud offerings hosted, maintained and delivered cost-effectively in India,” said Bharti Airtel Chairman. he said.
He said Airtel has secured over 24 deals for cloud offering to customers.
Mittal said there are policies in place to support cloud, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure, which are expected to accelerate investments and strengthen the ecosystem. The government is investing $200 billion (approx. ₹18 lakh crore this year).
“Your company has invested significantly in the last 10 years. ₹$3.3 trillion towards the creation of one of India’s most powerful digital infrastructure platforms. Mittal said the emergence of the 5G economy defines the next phase of growth and enables new use cases across industries.
He said 5G accelerates the shift towards high-speed, low-latency connectivity and unlocks new avenues for innovation through widespread network availability. “Our 5G customer base has reached 188 million. Airtel’s 5G Plus network now carries half of all wireless data traffic on our network,” Mittal said. he added.
