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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gopal Vittal
| image =
| caption = Gopal Vittal

| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |45|2013|02|12}}<ref name="ET-WhyChose" />
| citizenship = India
| alma_mater = {{nowrap|[[Indian Institute of Management Calcutta|IIM Calcutta]], [[Madras Christian College]]}}
| occupation = CEO Airtel India
| predecessor =
| awards =
}}
'''Gopal Vittal''' (born 1967) is an Indian business executive. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of [[Bharti Airtel]] (India) and South Asia, an Indian multinational [[telecommunications]] services company with operations in 20 countries.<ref name="ET-Interview1">{{cite news |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/awaiting-clarity-on-ma-norms-in-telecom-sector-gopal-vittal-bharti-ceo/articleshow/22304489.cms |title=Awaiting clarity on M&A norms in telecom sector: Gopal Vittal, Bharti CEO |author=Ashwin Mohan |accessdate=21 September 2013 |newspaper=[[The Economic Times]] |date=5 September 2013 }}</ref><ref name="HBL1">{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/gopal-vittal-to-be-bharti-airtel-ceo/article4309317.ece |title=Gopal Vittal to be Bharti Airtel CEO |accessdate=21 September 2013 |newspaper=[[Business Line]] |date=15 January 2013 |location=[[New Delhi]]}}</ref>

==Education==
{{BLP unsourced section|date=January 2018}}
Vittal has an undergraduate degree from [[Madras Christian College]] and MBA from [[Indian Institute of Management Calcutta|IIM Calcutta]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iimcal.ac.in/gopal-vittal|title = Gopal Vittal | IIM Calcutta}}</ref> He did his schooling at [[Rishi Valley School]] in Andra pradesh, India.

==Career==
After graduating from IIM Calcutta in 1990, he joined [[Hindustan Unilever|Hindustan Unilever Limited]] (HUL), one of India's biggest [[fast moving consumer goods|FMCG]] companies. Early in his career at HUL, he did two stints as an Area Sales Manager, and worked in [[Brooke Bond]] and several skincare brands. One of his biggest achievements in HUL was ''Project Bharat'', a successful rural-reach strategy that incentivized people in rural areas to try HUL's products.<ref name="ET-WhyChose">{{cite news |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/bharti-airtel-why-sunil-mittal-chose-gopal-vittal/articleshow/18456629.cms |title=Bharti Airtel: Why Sunil Mittal chose Gopal Vittal |author=Kala Vijayaraghavan & Joji Thomas Philip |accessdate=21 September 2013 |newspaper=[[The Economic Times]] |date=12 Feb 2013 }}</ref>

In 2006, he was roped in by [[Sunil Mittal]] (founder and Group CEO of [[Bharti Enterprises]]) to join Bharti Airtel as the head of marketing. His first stint at Airtel lasted only two years, till 2008. During this period, he redefined the relationship between operations and marketing in the organization, and changed Bharti's marketing strategy to cater to the mass market. His other major achievements during this period included segmenting customers to develop targeted offerings, and bundling mobile handsets with Airtel offers.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}}

In 2008, Vittal was persuaded to return to HUL by its CEO, [[Nitin Paranjpe]]. He was reappointed head of the home and personal care (HPC) businesses and given a board seat, superseding several company executives. In the period before Vittal, HPC businesses were growing at only 5-6 percent per annum at HUL. Vittal turned around the businesses, and between 2008 and 2012, the segment grew at a compounded annual rate of 14.7 per cent. Vittal, who was seen in HUL as second only to Paranjpe, left the company again in early 2012, a few months before the latter received a five-year extension as CEO.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}}

In early 2012, Vittal re-joined Bharti Airtel, as a [[Director (business)|Director]] in charge of special projects and international business strategy.<ref name="Forbes-1">{{cite magazine |url=http://forbesindia.com/article/special/gopal-vittal-set-to-join-bharti-airtel/32180/1 |title=Gopal Vittal set to join Bharti Airtel |accessdate=21 September 2013 |magazine=[[Forbes]] |date=2 Feb 2012 }}</ref> He spent most of 2012 and early 2013 at [[SingTel]]. In early 2013, Airtel announced that Vittal would be the next CEO of Airtel India. He took over as the CEO on 1 March 2013.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Bharti Enterprises}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vittal, Gopal}}
[[Category:1960s births]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Management Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian chief executives]]

Gopal Vittal - Revision history

UpdateBot at 01:58, 22 September 2021