Sunil Bharti Mittal presented the GSMA Chairman’s Award 2008

Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder, chairman and group CEO of India's Bharti Enterprises was presented with the GSMA Chairman's Award, the association's most prestigious honour at the Mobile World Congress at Barcelona.

This award, established in 1995, acknowledges the outstanding contribution to the growth and development of mobile communications around the world.

While presenting the award, GSMA chairman Craig Ehrlich said, "Sunil has built an incredibly successful business from scratch, one which has had a truly transformational impact on our industry, on the customers he serves and on India's economy. His brave and ambitious strategies will continue to resonate across the country, our industry and the business community globally, becoming a benchmark for emerging markets worldwide. We congratulate Sunil, on what has been an immense personal contribution to the vitality of the mobile world."

Bharti Airtel is now India's leading private integrated telecom company. Sunil was able to reduce the tariffs from more than 20 cents a minute to less than two cents, which created a major shift in the economic model for emerging markets.

On receiving the award, Sunil Bharti Mittal said, "This award is a tribute to India's telecom growth story, Bharti's vision and the emergence of Indian telcos on a global stage. It has been a privilege for me personally and Bharti Airtel to have been a part of this telecom revolution that has delivered affordable telecom services for all and has transformed the lives of millions across India."

Sunil, a graduate from Punjab University started his career founding Bharti in 1976, with a loan of just $1500. Today, at 50 he heads a diverse enterprise, among the top five in India, with a market capitalisation of over US$35 billion employing over 30,000 people. Committed to his vision of connecting people via communication across the broad spectrum of Indian society, Sunil has led a business revolution to achieve his aim of serving and connecting even the lowest income strata of Indian society.

"He is now extending his Midas touch to Indian retail and agriculture. I just know he will do for these two sectors what he has done for mobile - and Indian consumers will be the big winners," added Craig Ehrlich.