Shares of Vodafone Idea surged to 11% and is currently trading 10.53% higher to ₹8.08 on Monday, April 21, after the Government of India (GoI) officially increased its stake in the telecom company to 48.99% from 22.60%. The jump in stock price comes after the government converted ₹36,950 crore worth of spectrum payment dues into equity, significantly easing the financial burden on the loss-making telco.
This development is seen as a major relief for Vodafone Idea, which has long struggled with high debt and cash flow issues. Analysts believe the government’s move not only strengthens Vi’s balance sheet but also reflects strategic intent to preserve competition in India’s telecom sector, which is currently dominated by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. The debt reduction could help Vodafone Idea attract fresh investments and avoid turning the market into a duopoly.
Post the stake conversion:
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Vodafone UK’s stake was reduced from 24.4% to 16.1%
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Aditya Birla Group’s holding dropped from over 14% to 9.4%
Meanwhile, fresh data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also supported the rally. TRAI’s January 2025 report showed that Vodafone Idea maintained its position as the third-largest broadband provider in India with 126.41 million subscribers, and held a 25% share in the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication space. The company also continued to register strong user engagement, with 85.39% active wireless users on the VLR platform.
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