Bharti Airtel has revealed that the CEO of its Indian operations, Sanjay Kapoor, will step down in March after 15 years at the company.
Kapoor will be replaced by current group director of special products Gopal Vittal, who joined the company early last year.
While Bharti Airtel's announcement states Kapoor is leaving to “pursue his future aspirations outside of Bharti,” India's Economic Times reports on rumors he may have been pushed into quitting due to a proposed reorganization of the company.
Kapoor joined Bharti in 1998 as COO of what was then Bharti Cellular. He is currently CEO of Bharti's South Asian as well as its Indian operations.
Kapoor will remain a board member on Bharti's tower joint venture Indus Towers and on Bharti Global after he steps down.
The leadership transition may also indicate a change in strategy. Bharti said Vittal has been touring SingTel units, as well as Softbank and Silicon Valley to help understand “emerging trends in [the] data and internet space.”
As CEO, he plans to focus his attention on growing market share and margins, and on improving non-voice revenue streams including data, mobile money and VAS.