Shabnam Sinha To Succeed Sunil Bharti Mittal As Airtel Payments Bank Chairperson

Sunil Bharti Mittal will step down as Non-Executive Chairman of Airtel Payments Bank and leave the Board effective September 30, 2026. Shabnam Sinha will take over as Chairperson from October 1, 2026, for a three-year term following approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Shabnam Sinha is currently an Independent Director at Airtel Payments Bank and chairs the Special Committee for Monitoring Frauds. She is also a member of the Risk Management and IT Committees. Earlier, she served as CEO of IL&FS Education & Technology Services, with responsibility for strategy, financial management and business transformation. She has also worked with the World Bank, advising governments and institutions across Asia, Africa and Europe. Her training includes programmes at Harvard Business School, Oxford University, University of Geneva and IICA. She has more than three decades of experience across development finance, financial services, public policy and institutional transformation.

Sunil Bharti Mittal is the Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, which has interests in telecom, space communications, digital infrastructure, financial services, real estate and hospitality. He founded Bharti in 1976 and led the growth of Bharti Airtel into a telecommunications company operating across India and Africa. He is Co-Chairman of Eutelsat and serves on the Board of BT Group. He has received the Padma Bhushan, the GSM Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He has chaired the International Chamber of Commerce and GSM Association and served as President of CII. He is also associated with the World Economic Forum, Broadband Commission and Council on Foreign Relations. Through the Bharti Airtel Foundation, he supports education initiatives across India.