Bharti Airtel’s Chairman Sunil Mittal in a statement on Tuesday said that the company has fought tough battles and has emerged victorious as a ‘very stable organisation.’ The chairman was talking about the challenges faced by the telecom industry in the last five years because of the dipping revenues and surging debt. The top executive of the company was speaking at the All-India Management Association (AIMA) where he also stated that the first significant inflection point in his life came with the first mobile licence in 1992 against very stiff odds.
The Challenges Faced By Telecom Industry
According to a report from PTI, Mittal stated that neither his professional will send him anything that could jeopardise the company’s governance nor would he ask anything of them that could compromise the governance. He talked about the industry’s revenue collapsing in the last five years and the expenses being very high. Mittal informed that every year the industry had to spend about $3 billion to $4 billion which is more than Rs 20,000 crore and this is the figure just for India.
The chairman informed that Airtel has raised significant capital which was actually the need of the hour. Talking about the telecom industry’s struggle he said that the industry has raised over $ 18 billion in the last 30 months. He stated that the company had to ensure the availability of money to continue investing in these challenging times which required heavy dilution and selling off some assets. He said that Airtel managed to stay on the course despite facing some tough challenges as the company always focused on its long-term goals.
Mittal stated that Airtel is one of the most "professionalised" companies in the country and the telco had emerged stronger from wave after wave of adversity due to its robust organisational structure. He added that back in 2016 when the "assault" came on the industry in the form of strong competition, some took to shortcuts and short-term decisions in order to survive rather than being driven by the vision of a sustainable business. He said that Airtel is completely managed by best-in-class professionals and whenever it comes to taking risks he will always lead from the front.
