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Sunil Mittal

Vice President / Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, Eutelsat Group (Eutelsat Communications SA)

Search every verified Sunil Mittal interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises and co-chair of Eutelsat's board, spoke at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Delhi in October 2026 about India's satellite communication approval process. He stated that his Eutelsat OneWeb venture is "significantly ahead" of Elon Musk's Starlink in the approval queue, noting that he applied for permissions five years ago, has had ground networks ready for three years, and his satellites have been over India for five years. He said he would be happy to receive approval "at least a few days before" Musk. Mittal also commented on global trade interdependence, saying the world is "far far too interdependent" and that "going back to the wild west is not a possibility anymore." He cautioned that heavy dependence on a single country or source is not good, citing China's strength in areas such as pharmaceuticals, automobile components, and electronics. He discussed India's recent bilateral trade agreements with New Zealand, Australia, and the UK, and noted that an agreement with Europe is about to be signed, while Canada is in advanced stages and the US remains a question mark. He also mentioned Airtel's expansion into consumer lending in India and its financial services operations in Africa.

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Notable quotes

“I've already said that we are all awaiting our approvals. I think I am significantly ahead in the queue from him. I applied five years back, my satellites have been hovering over India for the last five years. We are very happy to get at least a few days before.”

“I think world is far far too interdependent. There's no question. Going back to the wild west is not a possibility anymore. But one warning that has come through this process is that heavy dependence on one country, one source is not good. For a long period of time, I think the world let China become very strong in almost everything from APIs in pharmaceuticals to the most critical components of the automobiles to yo”

“I think I am significantly ahead in the queue from him. I applied 5 years back. I have my ground networks ready for the last 3 years. My satellites have been hovering over India for the last 5 years. We don't have the permission. So, I mean, we'll be very happy to get it at least a few days before him.”

“In terms of the investments that are required in infrastructure, I think Airtel infrastructure which is huge across the country is going to be available to this research center to ride on to look at all the connected nodes in the country and pick up these actors. So our contribution is our large base, our network, and of course our working with the government which have been doing for a long period of time.”

“So this is as I said it's not a commercial venture but Zscaler and Airtel are committing to fund this whole initiative to kick off. I'm sure more and more people will join. We already have received interest from many other enterprises in the country. So money will be more like our give back to the nation is more in the area of philanthropy or CSR that we'll do from Airtel side and Zscaler from their side.”

“So this is as I said it's not a commercial venture but Zcaler and are committing to fund this whole initiative to kick off. I'm sure more and more people will join. We already have received interest from many other enterprises in the country. So money will be more like our give back to the nation is more in the area of philanthropy or CSR that we'll do from Airtel side and Zscaler from their side.”

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