Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal
President, CII (2018-19)
and
Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises

Rakesh Bharti Mittal is Vice-Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, one of India's leading business groups with interests in telecom, agri-food business, financial services and realty. Rakesh serves as Chairman-Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Bharti AXA General Insurance and FieldFresh Foods. Rakesh is also on the Board of Bharti Airtel and is Managing Director -Bharti Realty Holdings. Bharti has joint ventures with several global leaders: Singtel, AXA, Del Monte, SoftBank and Brightstar.

Rakesh has been elected as the President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2018-19 and has been a part of the CII National Council since 1999. He has served as Chairman of various Councils: Agriculture, CSR, Public Policy and Membership. He is also a member of the India-Pakistan Joint Business Forum (IPJBF).

Rakesh is a member of the Founders Circle -Brookings India, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA). He has also served as member of the Society of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

A passionate advocate of right to good education and philanthropy, Rakesh is the Co-Chairman of Bharti Foundation with leading initiatives in education and sanitation. Bharti Foundation provides free education and reaches out to over 2,50,000 children across 13 States.

Rakesh serves on Boards of several educational institutions - Indian School of Business (ISB), Chairman -Advisory Council of Bharti Institute of Public Policy at ISB Mohali, Co-Chairman-Advisory Board of Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology & Management, IIT Delhi and Member of the Court, Bennett University. Rakesh is also a member of the Governing Board of Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana.

Rakesh has been awarded the Honorary Doctor of Civil Law Degree by Newcastle University, UK and is the recipient of the prestigious Horasis - India Business Leader of the Year 2016 (Internalization) and LMA - Entrepreneur of the Year Award 1992.

Rakesh is also the Honorary Consul, Republic of Sierra Leone in India.