Calcutta: The UK government would oppose any attempt from Sunil Bharti Mittal to increase his stake in telecom group British Telecom (BT), people familiar with the matter have said, citing the need to maintain sovereign control over “critical national infrastructure”, according to a Financial Times report.
The stance will limit the billionaire’s influence over BT, whose broadband infrastructure arm Openreach provides fibre broadband to more than 22 million homes in Britain.
Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises conglomerate bought a 24.5 per cent stake in the company in 2024 from French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, which has now moved to 24.95 per cent.
It would require government approval to move above the 25 per cent threshold. British officials made clear that they would look to block such a move.
“It’s not to do with Bharti or India specifically, it’s a matter of keeping critical national infrastructure in sovereign UK control for obvious reasons,” said one British government figure.