Stating that such a sale could fetch the government up to $15 billion in one go, Mittal said the government would do well to go ahead and take this ‘courageous’ decision. “BSNL is a jewel. The government needs to step out of business and stop floundering around in small steps. It needs to be bold and have the courage to do so as that one sale would provide it enough capital to undertake much needed infrastructure development in the country,” Mittal said at the ongoing Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. 

The session had Bodyshop founder Anita Roddick also dwell on theme in great detail. Moderated by eminent economist Omkar Goswami, the session saw a consensus on the topic of whether shareholders value and service to society can co-exist.

Bharti Enterprises group chairman and MD Sunil Mittal said, “Whatever be the area of operation, delivery of superior business returns will give consumers additional resources to reinvest in the economy which will inevitably lead to better quality of service for the end user.”

Seconding Mittal was Roddick, who vehemently turned down the business models followed by the likes of Wal-Mart with revenues in billions made on the back of exploited labour force. “Every day, the Bombay Stock Exchange overseas a global flow of two trillion dollars through their computer screens. And the terrifying thing is that only three per cent of that has anything at all to do with trade. The other 97 per cent is speculation. It is froth but froth with terrifying power over peoples’ lives. I don’t want to have anything to do with such trade ,” she said.Roddick added that trade needed to respect and support communities and families. “We need trade that encourages countries to educate their children, heal their sick, value the work of their women and respect human rights,” she said.

Mittal said telecom in India started as an elitist service but today rickshaw drivers and farmers had mobile phones and conducted fruitful business using them. He added that nearly one per cent of the Indian GDP was contributed by mobile telephony and the sector throws up peripheral business opportunities. “The sector utilises 45-50,000 gensets, 50,000 shelters and 50,000 towers,” he said.

In his comments, Goswami said, “Philanthropy apart, it would make a lot of difference to the world if businesses could keep one to five per cent of their profit after tax for making a difference to their environment.”