Bharti Airtel, after investing more than Rs 3.3 lakh crore over the past decade in building digital infrastructure, is now eyeing expansion into cloud services, non-banking financial companies (NBFC), and data centres, according to Chairman Sunil Mittal. The move positions the telecom giant for India's next wave of AI-led digital transformation.
Mittal stated that the company's infrastructure investments have created one of India's largest digital platforms, and the new ventures aim to capitalize on growing demand for cloud computing and data storage. Airtel's NBFC arm, Airtel Finance, already offers digital lending and insurance products.
The data centre business, operated through Nxtra Data, has 12 large data centres across India, with plans to expand capacity. Airtel's cloud services, under Airtel Cloud, provide solutions for enterprises, including AI and machine learning workloads.
Analysts note that Airtel's move aligns with the government's push for digital public infrastructure and the rapid adoption of AI in sectors like healthcare, education, and finance. However, competition from Reliance Jio and global cloud providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure remains intense.
As of July 2026, Airtel has not disclosed specific investment figures for these new ventures, but Mittal emphasized the company's commitment to India's digital future.
