Meet man, IIM alumnus, who leads India's 2nd largest telecom company worth Rs 978000 crore, he is...

Gopal Vittal is a well-known man in the telecom industry as he leads Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest telecom company, as Managing Director and CEO. The company, which is owned by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, has a market cap of Rs 9.78 lakh crore, as of October 30. Vittal, who joined Airtel in 2006, has been the leading firm for the last 12 years.

Recently, he was also appointed Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd in addition to the Managing Director. Gopal will move into the role of Executive Vice Chairman on 1 January 2026. In this role, while continuing to lead the India business, he will take on broader telecom responsibilities across the group.

Vittal completed his MBA from IIM Calcutta. He earned his undergraduate degree from Madras Christian College before completing his schooling at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh. Before joining Airtel, Gopal worked for 20 years with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) across sales, marketing and general management in markets spanning India, Thailand, Indonesia and China.

In his current role, Vittal has played a pivotal role in establishing Airtel as the country’s one of the largest telecom services companies. He is responsible for defining the strategy and providing overall leadership to the operations of the company.

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