Sunil Bharti Mittal is the Founder, Chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom, financial services, retail, realty, manufacturing and agriculture.

Sunil started his career at 18 after graduating from Punjab University in India in 1976 and founded Bharti. Today, at 52, he heads a successful enterprise which employs over 30,000 people. Bharti Airtel, the flagship group company, has a market capitalization of approximately US$ 25 billion.

Sunil has been recognized with the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards. He has also received the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for 2009. He is a past President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, the premier industry body in India (2007-08).

Sunil has been awarded numerous awards and recognitions including the Global Economy Prize 2009 by The Kiel Institute, Germany. The US-India Business Council has also honored him with the ‘Global Vision’ Award 2008. He has received the GSM Association Chairman's Award for 2008.

Sunil was Co-chairman of the World Economic Forum in 2007 at Davos and is a member of its International Business Council. He is a member of the Leadership Council of The Climate Group. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a member of several premier international bodies –International Advisory Committee to the NYSE Euronext Board of Directors, the International Business Advisory Council of London and the Advisory Board of the Global Economic Symposium. Sunil is also on the Telecom Board of the International Telecommunication Union, the leading UN Agency for Information and Communication Technology. He is also a member of the Indo-US CEOs Forum.

He serves as a member of the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business. He is also a member of the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs, Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Sunil believes a responsible corporate has a duty to give back to the community in which it operates. This belief has resulted in Bharti Foundation, which is committed to providing education to under-privileged children in rural India.

Sunil has been conferred with the degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) by the University of Leeds, UK and the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, USA. He is an Honorary Fellow of The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers.