Bharti Airtel Appoints COO Shashwat Sharma as MD and CEO; Vittal Takes on Expanded Role

India's leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Monday said it had structured succession processes in place and as part of it, Gopal Vittal, who led the company as Managing Director and CEO for the last 12 years, is being appointed Executive Vice Chairman.

Vittal will take over as Executive Vice Chairman, effective January 1, 2026. The company said that on January 1, Shashwat Sharma, COO, will assume the position of MD and CEO of Bharti Airtel.

Vittal will continue to lead the India business and take on more telecom responsibilities within the group.

Sharma would be appointed as CEO designate of the company, wherein he would be working end to end for the entire consumer business. Vittal will mentor and groom him towards being MD and CEO for Bharti Airtel Ltd, said the company.

"I am highly satisfied with the leadership succession and transition arrangement at Airtel and there cannot be a better time when Airtel is set to come out with a new deal in which the threads of change and continuity are closely intertwined," stated Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel.

"With empowerment an article of faith for me, I believe this is the reason a very vibrant management has performed in very good results, which the company has recorded during its period of functioning under me," added Mr Mittal.

In a board-level restructuring, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, who has been serving Airtel for 9 years in his current term, will make way to the boards of Indus Towers Limited and Bharti Hexacom Limited. Rajan Bharti Mittal returns to Airtel to be the Bharti Board nominee with immediate effect, said the company.

Airtel has created a winning portfolio of businesses across mobile, B2B, Home Broadband, DTH and digital services. Even in mobile, an intensely competitive space, Airtel has seen its revenue market share grow from 30 per cent to 40 per cent. The company has a market capitalisation of over $100 billion.