Mittal Urges India to Seize 'Golden Opportunity' for Economic Growth

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Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal has described the current economic environment in India as a 'Goldilocks moment' - not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Mittal emphasized the need for the country to seize this opportunity to accelerate trade deals, infrastructure investment, and domestic AI capabilities. He believes this will be crucial in achieving the government's vision of a developed India by 2047. Mittal highlighted the country's economic growth of 8.2% in the second quarter and low retail inflation of 0.25% in October as positive indicators. He praised the government's leader for their commitment to India's growth, saying that global partners now view the country 'on equal terms'. However, he warned that policymakers must act quickly to overcome bottlenecks and implement reforms. Mittal also emphasized the importance of India developing its own digital backbone, rather than relying on foreign hyperscalers, to prepare for the next wave of innovation driven by AI. He noted that Airtel is scaling its digital infrastructure, including a new 300MW facility in Andhra Pradesh, and has collaborated with Perplexity Pro to democratize AI access for its 360 million customers. The chairman also highlighted the significance of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, describing them as 'cell towers in space', and warned that telcos risk missing a critical area of defense if they fail to adapt. Reflecting on Airtel's journey, Mittal attributed the company's endurance to its motivated workforce and set a target for Airtel to become the world's first telecom company with 1 billion users.