New Delhi: Excitel Broadband, India’s fourth-largest fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband network, has announced the elevation of Varun Pasricha as Chief Executive Officer, effective March 2026. Pasricha has been serving as Chief Operating Officer at the company since 2018.
The leadership transition marks a key milestone in Excitel’s evolution from a disruptive startup founded in 2015 to a Top 4 FTTH internet service provider in India, currently serving close to one million households across more than 50 cities and towns. As CEO, Pasricha will lead the company’s next phase of growth, focusing on expanding its fibre footprint and strengthening its partnership-driven expansion model.
In his new role, Pasricha will prioritise scaling fiber infrastructure, enhancing service quality, reinforcing cable operator partnerships, and accelerating customer acquisition across both existing and new markets.
“Varun has been central to Excitel’s operating discipline and partner ecosystem, and he is well suited to lead the company forward,” said Nikolai Gorchilov, Co-Founder, Excitel Broadband. “Victor Francess, Plamen Petkov and I have built internet businesses across Europe and India, and our next priority is to make Excitel not just affordable, but a loved brand – by pushing quality and customer service to the centre of everything we do. Our partner-led model remains the backbone for scale, and we will keep strengthening systems that improve reliability and the customer experience across our footprint.”
Over the past eight years, Pasricha has played a pivotal role in building Excitel’s operational backbone, overseeing large-scale execution across network rollout, partner management, city expansion and service delivery. Prior to joining Excitel in 2018, he held leadership and strategy roles at Zomato, G4S, Max Healthcare and Indus Towers.
Speaking on his new role, Varun Pasricha, Chief Executive Officer, Excitel Broadband, said, “Excitel was built on the belief that high-speed, unlimited internet should be accessible and affordable for every Indian household. Having worked closely with our teams and partners over the years, I’ve seen the strength of the foundation we’ve created. My focus will be on building stronger systems, elevating customer experience, empowering our partner ecosystem, and driving disciplined expansion as we scale to our next milestone.”
Pasricha succeeds Vivek Raina, Co-Founder and CEO, who is stepping down after leading the company since its inception.
Reflecting on his tenure, Vivek Raina said, “It has been an incredible journey building Excitel from the ground up. Over the past decade, we have expanded our fiber network to serve nearly one million users, collaborated with thousands of local and regional partners, and built a strong presence across 50+ cities and towns. I believe this is the right time for a leadership transition, and I am confident that the Founders’ vision and Varun’s operational expertise will take Excitel to even greater heights. I will continue to support Excitel as a shareholder, and I’m excited to explore new challenges in the future.”
As Excitel enters its next growth phase, the company will continue to prioritise fibre network expansion, partner enablement and customer satisfaction, reinforcing its position as a leading broadband provider in India.
