BHARTI Airtel, India’s No.1 mobile operator, appointed the son of its billionaire founder-chairman as a manager, raising speculation he was being groomed for a top position in the $27bn (£17.52bn) company.
Shravin Bharti Mittal, 23, one of twin sons of Sunil Bharti Mittal, will be part of Bharti’s international operations, the company said in a statement.
“I think Mittal’s message to his son is ‘start from the shop floor and prove your mettle before you get elevated to a senior position’,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of equity at SMC Capitals in New Delhi.
The appointment comes in the wake of succession talks among Indian businesses, which are mostly family-driven.
Wipro Limited, the country’s third-biggest outsourcer of IT services, this week named its founder-chairman Azim Premji’s oldest son, who is widely seen as heir apparent, as chief strategy officer.
Last month Tata Group, India’s oldest and the best-known business house, set a milestone saying it would look beyond the family for a successor to its Chairman Ratan Tata, who is due to retire by end-2012.
Holder of a degree in accounting and finance from the University of Bath in the UK, Shravin Mittal joins from JP Morgan Cazenove in London where he was an analyst in the technology, media and telecommunications division of the investment banking unit.
He had earlier worked with Merrill Lynch in New York and Ernst & Young in London.
Shravin will initially get an annual salary of $64,130 (£41,629)), according to a company statement. His job will be to assist the management in “integration of Zain Africa”, according to an annual report posted on company’s website.
Bharti owns the African assets it bought from Kuwait’s Zain through its unit Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, which Shravin will join as a manager.
He may be elevated to the board of the company’s international unit or equivalent position in future, the company said.
