Financial services, data centres and cloud to drive Airtel’s next phase of growth
Airtel plans to invest $19 billion over the next five years to build new digital businesses in financial services, data centres and cloud infrastructure, Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in the company’s annual…
Source: newindianexpress.com · July 21, 2026 at 6:21 PM · AI-assisted report
Single-sourceINDIA, 22 JULY 2026 —
Airtel plans to invest $19 billion over the next five years to build new digital businesses in financial services, data centres and cloud infrastructure, Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in the company’s annual shareholder letter.
The spending follows a three-year “calibrated approach” that produced early gains in financial services, data centres and Airtel Cloud, Mittal said. Airtel Money Limited secured a non-deposit-taking NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India, enabling it to expand credit and other digital financial products. Mittal said Airtel Money will be “suitably capitalised” as the group deepens financial inclusion through digital wallets and payments.
Airtel Payments Bank and its customer base of more than 400 million will distribute loans, insurance and wealth services, adding at least $2 billion to group revenue by March 2026, according to a March investor note.
On data centres, Airtel’s Nxtra unit is on track to deliver around 1 GW of capacity through greenfield builds and acquisitions. The company raised $1 billion from marquee investors last quarter, a move Mittal described as validation of the opportunity and Airtel’s execution track record. Structure Research estimates India’s data-centre capacity will reach 1.8 GW by calendar 2026, up from 800 MW today, driven by AI workloads and enterprise digitalisation.
Airtel Cloud is launching a sovereign, telco-grade cloud aimed at Indian enterprises that need locally hosted infrastructure for compliance and latency. Mittal said the platform leverages Airtel’s fibre, cell sites and enterprise relationships to compete with hyperscalers on data-residency and security. Counterpoint Research estimates the Indian sovereign-cloud market will grow at a 25% compound annual rate to $35 billion by 2028.
The group remains focused on its core connectivity business. Airtel said its 5G Standalone readiness is an “important milestone” as it upgrades transport networks and rolls out advanced 5G features to lift average revenue per user. The company also disclosed AI deployments across network management, customer engagement and fraud prevention; its AI spam filter now blocks unwanted calls and messages at scale.
Related: Bharti Airtel · Sunil Bharti Mittal · India
Malaysia Impact
The growth of digital services and cloud infrastructure in India may have indirect implications for Malaysian businesses, particularly those with operations or partnerships in India. It may create new opportunities for collaboration and investment between Indian and Malaysian companies.