Bharti Airtel names Soumen Ray as group finance chief

India's second-largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, on Thursday appointed Soumen Ray as its group chief financial officer.

Ray was most recently the finance chief for Bharti Airtel India, a role he held for the last four years.

He will be succeeded by Akhil Garg, who has been with Airtel for 12 years and was most recently the finance boss of Airtel unit Bharti Hexacom, a wireless telecommunications service provider.

The appointments are part of a larger management shake-up as Indian telecom operators compete for more customers with rising digital penetration in the world's most populous country.

Both Garg and Ray will take charge of their new roles from January 1, 2026.