Industry needs long overdue support to maintain 3+1 structure: Sunil Mittal

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal has expressed hope that the government and regulators will step in to ensure the sector remains a viable place for continued investments and asserted that the industry requires “long overdue” support to maintain its current 3+1 structure.

In the latest annual report of Airtel, Mittal said as the sector’s role in the economy becomes more pervasive, its challenges loom larger.

Issues such as unsustainable pricing and low returns in a highly capital-intensive environment, coupled with legacy legal issues, “have extracted their toll”, Mittal observed.

“The industry requires long overdue support to maintain its current 3+1 industry structure and allow players to earn a respectable return on their investments,” Mittal said in Airtel’s annual report for 2020-21.