Airtel Founder and Chairman Sunil Mittal has expressed support for regulation of crypto and artificial intelligence (AI) in India. Speaking at an event on Thursday, Mittal urged the government to set clear regulations to oversee the sector. The topic of regulating the digital assets sector was previously broached by the Supreme Court earlier this month. The court had observed that there is a lack of regulation for the crypto sector in the country.
Mittal’s was speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Annual Business Summit 2025, where he addressed the recent growth of the digital assets sector. He served as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) from 2007 to 2008.
The industrialist said that India needs a regulatory framework for crypto and AI, especially now that the industry is moving at an “unprecedented pace”. He further emphasised that India can no longer view the growth of the crypto sector from the sidelines.
A video of Mittal speaking about crypto with the media at the venue has also surfaced on social media.
“Things have started to move very fast on crypto. This is an area where the government will have to start applying its mind on how to ensure that the right regulatory framework is available for India to make full use of AI and crypto whenever the time comes,” the Airtel chairman said.
Delhi: Sunil Bharti Mittal, Indian industrialist and philanthropist, says, “…All I’m saying is that things have started to move very fast on crypto, and of course, AI — which we already discussed — is also moving very fast. This is an area where the government will have to… pic.twitter.com/kmDMMdFk75
— IANS (@ians_india) May 29, 2025
Despite the government’s cautious approach towards Web3, Airtel has taken a few steps to explore the sector. In February 2022, it acquired a strategic stake in a Singapore-based blockchain firm Aqilliz, a Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) company under the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program.
At the time, the telco planned to use Aqilliz’s patented hybrid blockchain platform, Atom, to improve its digital ecosystem. The same year, Kavin Mittal also reportedly discussed his plans to explore the metaverse sector.
Earlier this month, Supreme Court Justices Surya Kant and NK Singh called on Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to seek an update from the government regarding crypto regulations.
Earnings on cryptocurrencies in India have been subject to a 30 percent tax since 2022, with a one percent TDS imposed on all transactions. In addition, all crypto firms must comply with anti-money laundering and KYC rules, for which they have to register with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to legalise operations.
While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said last year that crypto cannot be considered currency, an upcoming discussion paper from the finance ministry is expected to clarify India’s stance on virtual assets.