NEW DELHI -- Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s leading telecom services provider, today announced the launch of the ‘Airtel Innovation Fund’ aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of telecommunications. This is the first ever innovation fund in India specifically for the telecom sector. The objective of the Fund is to provide opportunities to entrepreneurs with a vision to build businesses based on innovative ideas. The Fund will have an initial corpus of Rs 200 crores and will be led and administered by Bharti Airtel.

Announcing the launch of the Airtel Innovation Fund, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel said, “Bharti Airtel has demonstrated that Indian entrepreneurship can create world-class companies. Innovation has always been at the core of our DNA – be it our unique outsourcing model or world-class products and services. The Airtel Innovation Fund is a pioneering step to promote innovation and help budding entrepreneurs realise their dreams. We are confident that this initiative will co-build the twin pillars of innovation and entrepreneurship to usher in a new wave of entrepreneurs in India.”

The Airtel Innovation Fund’s intent is to provide seed money toentrepreneurs who may not otherwise be able to access funds, and to serve as a vehicle to promote developments in technology, content and software applications in the area of telecommunications.

Mr. Manoj Kohli, CEO and Joint Managing Director, Bharti Airtel added, “Bharti Airtel has been a pioneer in the India telecom sector and revolutionised the market with innovative products like Lifetime Prepaid.This fund will be a catalyst in further promoting the spirit ofentrepreneurship in Indian telecom as well as development of exciting technologies for the benefit of customers.”

Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL)