Why Sunil Bharti Mittal should seek out Google’s Pichai, Page & Brin

Over the years, Sunil Mittal, a feisty campaigner, has mostly chosen his partners well. Singtel has been a consistent ally. Vodafone has been too. Walmart was equally charmed after meeting the Mittal brothers at their Bentonville headquarters and decided to team up. So did Axa for a foray in insurance, Rothschild falmily and then Del Monte Pacific for agribusiness.

Even Softbank’s maverick founder Masayoshi Son broke break with Bharti, much to the chagrin of Cyrus Mistry, the former boss of the Tatas, am told by reliable insiders. And those who forget, Mittal can claim some points for the private equity gold rush to India, having ensured a massive payday for Bharti Airtel’s first big investor Warburg Pincus.

The focus is once again on Mittal in this season of Big tech deal dash to leverage his global network and create a digital moat around flagship Airtel. An eco-system of products and offerings along with strategic allies to take advantage of the changing consumption habits of the world’s largest data consumers who view, listen, shopping and even play on mobile. As consumers too, we would want that as a counter to the Jio juggernaut.