Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises’ Founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has been awarded an Honorary Knighthood, the Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE), by King Charles III for services to UK-India business relations.
The KBE is among the highest honours conferred by the British monarch to civilians and is awarded in an honorary capacity to foreign nationals. Mittal becomes the first Indian national to be awarded the honour by the King, in honorary awards for foreign nationals announced by the UK Cabinet Office this week.
Sunil Bharti Mittal said: “I am deeply humbled by this gracious recognition from His Majesty, King Charles. UK and India have historical relations, which are now entering a new era of increased cooperation and collaboration.
“I remain committed to working towards strengthening the economic and bilateral trade relationships between our two great nations. I am thankful to the government of UK, whose support and keen attention to the needs of business has been critical in making the country an attractive investment destination.”
The KBE is awarded in an honorary capacity to foreign nationals. While the Knighthood conferred on UK nationals comes with the title of Sir or Dame, foreigners conferred with the honour add KBE after their name instead.
Previous Indian recipients of the Honorary KBE, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, include business chief Ratan Tata (2009), musician Ravi Shankar (2001) and industrialist Jamshed Irani (1997).
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Sunil Bharti Mittal is a previous recipient of the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian honours, awarded to individuals for demonstrating distinguished services of high order.
Bharti Enterprises in the UK
The company highlighted that Mittal successfully led the revival of OneWeb, now Eutelsat, leading a consortium with the UK government and other strategic investors to offer satellite broadband services globally.
As a member of the India-UK CEO Forum, he has been awarded the Honorary Doctor of Civil Law from Newcastle University and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Leeds. He is a member of the Vice Chancellor’s Circle of Advisors at the University of Cambridge.
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Additionally, Sunil Bharti Mittal has served on the Governing Body of the London Business School (LBS) and as a Member of the India Advisory Group at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Bharti’s Airtel Africa was successfully listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2019 and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index.