MC EXCLUSIVE Telecom veteran Akhil Gupta to retire from Bharti Enterprises on March 31

Akhil Gupta

• Akhil Gupta to retire as Bharti Enterprises vice chairman after March 31
• Gupta played a key role in Bharti Airtel's growth and major acquisitions
• He played a key role in Airtel's Africa growth and telecom infrastructure reforms.

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Bharti Enterprises vice chairman Akhil Gupta, a key architect of the group’s strategic direction for more than 30 years, will retire on March 31, sources told Moneycontrol.

Gupta's exit marks the end of a long and successful tenure at the Bharti Group where he has played a vital role in the company’s growth.

Bharti Enterprises formally announced Gupta’s upcoming retirement in a recent internal email.

A person familiar with the matter said that Gupta has decided to step down to pursue personal interests. His involvement in day-to-day matters has been gradually reduced over time.

Gupta retired as a non-executive director of Airtel Africa Plc on July 9, 2025.

Moneycontrol could not immediately reach Gupta for comments.

 Member of core leadership

A long-time member of the Bharti Group’s top leadership, Gupta played a central role in shaping Bharti Airtel’s course across multiple regulatory regimes, spectrum auctions, and industry upheavals — helping steer the company from a fledgling mobile operator into a global telecom major and cornerstone of India’s digital infrastructure.

He joined Bharti Enterprises in its formative years and was closely involved in building the group’s telecom business from the ground up.

Between 1995 and 2000, he guided Bharti’s entry into mobile telephony, focusing on license strategy, regulatory engagement, and early network rollouts at a time when India’s telecom sector was tightly regulated.

In the early 2000s, as a senior executive and board member, he helped scale Bharti Airtel into India’s largest mobile operator, navigating successive spectrum auctions, tariff wars, and major policy transitions. He was also instrumental in Airtel’s 2002 initial public offering (IPO), one of India’s earliest telecom IPOs.

Africa Acquisition

In 2010, Gupta was part of the leadership team behind Airtel’s $10.7 billion acquisition of Zain Africa, one of the largest overseas takeovers by an Indian company, transforming Airtel into a multinational telecom operator with a significant footprint across Africa.

He also steered the company through a turbulent regulatory phase marked by the 2G licence cancellations, spectrum re-farming, and rising compliance costs, playing a key role in preserving Airtel’s balance-sheet strength during a prolonged period of industry stress.

A chartered accountant by training and an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Gupta has also been closely associated with major structural initiatives of Airtel and the Bharti Group, including the separation of passive mobile infrastructure and the formation of Indus Towers, a move that reshaped India’s telecom infrastructure landscape.

He also spearheaded the 2012 public listing of Bharti Infratel, unlocking further value for the group.

In his more than three decades, Gupta has been deeply involved in Bharti’s strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, capital allocation, and financial strategy, including raising several billion dollars in project finance from global banks and international bond markets.

Gupta joined the board of quick commerce major Zepto in April, underlining his continued relevance as a strategic and financial adviser beyond the telecom sector.