NEWSMAKER-Indian telecom czar on African safari again

NEW DELHI, May 29 - Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal has a busy June lined up.

His only daughter is getting married, and he will be working on a deal to create the world's third-largest mobile phone company spanning Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

A year after a first round of talks failed, Mittal's flagship Bharti Airtel is again at the negotiating table with South Africa's MTN Group , with the long-term goal of a full merger.

Can Mittal pull it off this time?

"He's an astute businessman. He has always got his acts right," said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general at India's leading industry lobby, CII, who worked with Mittal when he headed the lobby in 2007-08.

"He's not only survived competition in India, he's come out well in the competition," said Banerjee, who has no doubt Mittal would be successful in his global push.

Mittal, who started his career selling bicycle parts, saw opportunity in Indian telecoms when the sector was being opened up for private participation in the mid-1990s.

Bharti was a rank outsider in a business that attracted many of India's mightiest corporate groups including the Tatas, the Birlas and Reliance.

Nobody gave his company, armed with just one licence to operate a mobile network in Delhi and whose only association with telecoms was making push-button telephones, much hope.

But Mittal kept on acquiring stakes and new licences to eventually expand Bharti's coverage nationwide, building the leading mobile operator with control of a quarter of the world's fastest-growing mobile market.

Bharti is the fourth-largest Indian firm by market value, trailing only Reliance Industries and two state-run firms.

Earlier this month, Bharti announced it had crossed 100 million subscribers to be the third-largest, single-country operator in the world, and Mittal hoped he would get the next 100 million from the home market within the next three years.

"We have added zeros after zeros to come to that big magical number... I will resolve now to start the clock one more time," an emotional Mittal said, recounting how he had once struggled to get board approval for putting up 100 mobile masts.

His company now builds 30 times as many in a month.

For more on Bharti/MTN, click [ID:nLR511040]

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Bharti Airtel recently started a mobile operation in Sri Lanka and parent Bharti Enterprises has been running mobile services in the Seychelles and the British Channel Islands.

Mittal has built a diversified group with interests including retail and financial services, and has already partnered global names such as Wal-Mart , SingTel , Axa and Del Monte Pacific across businesses.

"He has done most of his business in India, but has never (been) devoid of good partners. He's always sought out the best in class," said London-based Bundeep Singh Rangar, chairman of cross-border M&A advisory IndusView Advisors.

Mittal, 51, is the second of three sons of a politician. His brothers are involved in the business. A yoga and golf enthusiast, he has been conferred with India's prestigious civilian award "Padma Bhushan".

"It's not only his competitor Reliance Communications watching the deal. I'm sure the headquarters of T-Mobile , Telefonica and Vodafone would be watching quite keenly," Rangar said.