Mumbai: Sunil Bharti Mittal group company Bharti Airtel has announced a major restructuring of its top management under which the group will have a chairman and a group CEO, two vice chairmen and managing directors and three directors.

While Sunil Bharti Mittal will be the group CEO, under the restructuring plan, Rakesh Bharti Mittal will be vice chairman and MD and also co-chair Bharti Foundation. Rajan Bharti Mittal will be another vice chairman and MD.

Akhil Gupta has been elevated to the newly-created position of deputy group CEO and MD, while Manoj Kohli has been appointed CEO and joint managing director of Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Akhil Gupta will take specific charge of the tower infrastructure business as the vice chairman and MD of Bharti Infratel and also lead the financial services and the software business. He will continue to be on the board of Bharti Airtel.

The restructuring, which aims to create a diversified businesses, will enhance the empowerment of group functional directors for business development, who will now drive and co-shape all the businesses of Bharti, the company said in a website release.

''We are now embarking on a journey to significantly scale up our emerging businesses and leverage our leadership position in established businesses. Towards this end, we are strengthening the Bharti organisation structure and the governance model that will take us further on the path to building one of the most admired conglomerates in India.
 
With the new structure, we will engage functionally with our emerging businesses at a deeper level, empower the developed businesses, strengthen the interface mechanisms of Bharti with the businesses and leverage the group functions effectively,'' said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and group CEO, Bharti.

The office of the chairman and CEO will be supported by three directors – director, chairman's office; director, corporate affairs and director, shareholder's office.

The Group Functions will leverage the best practices and synergies across the group businesses to create an environment of partnership and collaboration, the release said.

Bharti Enterprises has interests in telecom, agribusiness, financial services and retail.

Bharti Airtel Limited is one of India 's leading private sector providers of telecommunications services with over 71.7 million customers as of end- 2008.

Another group company Bharti Teletech is the country's largest manufacturer and exporter of telephone terminals.

Bharti has a joint venture – Bharti Del Monte India Private Limited (formerly FieldFresh Foods) – with Del Monte Foods India Pvt Ltd to offer fresh and processed fruits and vegetables in the domestic as well as international markets.

Bharti has joint ventures with global wealth management firm AXA for life insurance, general insurance and asset management.

Bharti has also entered retail business under a company called Bharti Retail Pvt Ltd and has a joint venture with Wal-Mart for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India.