'I wish I was 20 years younger': Sunil Mittal on India's next 20 years, recalls OneWeb pitch to Rishi Sunak

Bharti Enterprises founder Sunil Bharti Mittal on Thursday said he wished he were 20 years younger, pointing to the opportunities he expects India to offer over the next two decades.

"It’s incredible to be born in this country today,” Mittal said during the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women event in New Delhi. "I’m going to be 69 in less than 10 days. I wish I was 20 years younger. There is so much going to happen the next 10-20 years in this country."

Mittal said India was headed towards becoming the world’s third-largest economy, citing technology, energy, its young population and market as key strengths. “Technology, energy, youth, population, market, is incredible,” he said.

His advice to entrepreneurs was rooted in his own experience of spotting technological shifts early.

In the early 1980s, Mittal said he saw an opportunity in push-button telephones when rotary phones were prevalent in India. "I brought India’s first push-button phone. And that’s how my romance with telecom started," he said.

The business subsequently expanded into answering machines, cordless phones and fax machines before Mittal moved into mobile telecom.

At the time, he recalled being warned that mobile telecom required deep pockets and was not meant for small entrepreneurs.

"Thank God I didn’t know how deep was deep, and I would have not even ventured," Mittal quipped. "I just rolled the dice and then only later on I realised, ‘Oh my God, this really needs serious money.''

OneWeb and Rishi Sunak

Decades later, Mittal encountered another capital-intensive technology bet with satellite company OneWeb.
Recalling events during the pandemic, Mittal said then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was keen to move ahead with the satellite project, while Rishi Sunak, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, had to scrutinise the financial commitment.

"Rishi, being the Chancellor, had to really watch all his money," Mittal said. "And I had to go and convince him."

Mittal said he argued that the UK and Europe needed their own satellite constellation rather than relying solely on American systems. "We need to have a European-UK constellation," he recalled telling Sunak.

Drawing a broader lesson from his experience raising capital and building partnerships, Mittal said entrepreneurs needed to be able to persuade others of the strength of their ideas.

“You need to be convincing enough about your story, about your product, services, or an idea that you should be able to get money on the table,” he said.

Mittal ended with a message to entrepreneurs to stay committed to their ambitions. “Hold your belief very strongly, very dearly, whatever ideas, plans, ambitions you have,” he said. "You will succeed beyond your own imagination."