There comes a tide in everybody's life, but only a few are able to ride on it. And, in case of Sunil Mittal, CMD, Bharti Enterprises, the tide did come in February 1992 when he bid for the licence of cellular phones in Delhi region. The Government had set a prerequisite - the bidder should have some experience in telecom. As it was a new venture, Mittal was frantically trying to clinch a deal with some major telecom groups. He succeeded in roping in the French group "Vivendi". But things went amiss just before the deadline for the licence when Vivendi backed out saying it would go with the Modi Group - a Mittal's rival. It was this critical point, which proved to be a turning point in Mittal's life. After mustering all his strength, skills and integrity, Mittal finally succeeded in persuading Vivendi. The deal was sealed and thus Bharti Delhi cellular was born. And with no time, the venture began showing stupendous growth. He built his Bharti group, along with two siblings, into India's largest mobile phone operator in just ten years.

Today, Bharti is India's largest GSM-based mobile phone service and valued in the vicinity of $30 billion. Mittal has proved that he is the most ambitious and undisputed telecom entrepreneur India has. In fact, Mittal's telecom success was the culmination of strings of businesses that he made foray into. Vodafone and SingTel both own stakes in recently renamed flagship Bharti Airtel. The group also has partnerships with Axa for insurance and with the Rothschild family for exporting fruits and vegetables.

Mittal has always been a pioneer. Fondly called SBM by his friends and colleagues, a privileged son of a Parliamentarian, Mittal was courageous enough to pave his own path. So, after graduating from Punjab University, this first generation entrepreneur, made humble beginnings with his first business in 1976 with a capital investment of Rs. 20,000 as a bicycle parts manufacturer, knitwear and stainless steel utensils in Ludhiana. By 1979, Mittal realised that his ambitions could not be fulfilled in Ludhiana, and thus moved to Mumbai. He initially founded a number of trading concerns, and established the first company to manufacture push button telephones in India.

In 1982, Mittal started a full-fledged business selling portable generators imported from Japan. He was one of the first entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth area and launched services in Delhi in 1995. Believing in the dictum that work is love and not stress, Mittal, an alumnus of Harvard Business School has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized telecommunications with his world-class brands. It is Mittal's unflaging efforts, which has made the Bharti Tele-Ventures, the first private telecom operator to cross the five-million-customer mark in India.

His AirTel has become India's largest cellular service provider with a presence across 16 states in the country. Bharti Telenet, which again is owned by Mittal is country's largest fixed-line service provider in the private sector. And, with recent operations in Seychelles, Bharti under Mittal has become the first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside the country. In fact, it was in 1999 that Mittal got his big chance when he bought three telecom licenses in southern India for $225 million - and later snagged a total 40% investment from Singapore Telecom and New York-based investment fund Warburg Pincus, and not surprisingly, he hasn't looked back since then. Mittal's knack for opportunities and his smart business moves are testimony of his enterprising nature. He has tried his hands in all-important trades and has come out successfully too. Now not only has he created a buzz with his plans to go into retailing along with the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart but he has pledged Rs.200 crore in the Bharti Foundation which will set up 1,000 village play schools over the next 2 years.

Always enthusiastic and brimming with ideas, Mittal, has revolutionized India's mobile telephony and shown to the world the power of a market called "India". Famous for his guts to take business risks, it's no wonder that accolades and awards have followed Mittal in quick succession. In fact, he was chosen as one of the top entrepreneurs in the world for 2000 and was leveled amongst 'Stars of Asia' by 'Business Week'. Not only this, he received IT Man of the Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO of the Year, 2002 Award (World HRD Congress). He features in the Forbes 2007 list of world's billionaires at rank 69.

Despite his hectic schedule, Mittal still remains quintessentially a simple, down-to-earth man who loves spending whatever time he could get, with his family. A man, for whom yoga is a great stress buster, Mittal's never-say-die attitude and his risk-taking abilities are sure to take him to new heights of glories.