Shares of beleaguered telecom player rose another 4% in Wednesday’s trading session on 6 May, extending its gains for the third day in a row and hitting levels last seen over two months ago, driven by multiple positive developments.
Vodafone Idea stock price gained 4.07% to hit the day’s high of ₹11.24 today — its highest level since 19 February. Meanwhile, in three sessions, the telco has risen almost 10%.
Birla returns as non-executive chairman
Today’s rise comes on the back of the re-appointment of as non-executive chairman of Vodafone Idea, after a span of nearly five years. Birla had stepped down from this post in 2021.
He will replace Ravinder Takkar, who has stepped down from the position but will continue to assist Birla as non-executive vice-chairman, according to a regulatory filing.
Vodafone Idea said that the board of directors has “Approved the appointment of Kumar Mangalam Birla, a Non-Executive Director, as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vodafone Idea Limited with effect from 5th May 2026.”
Birla’s appointment is seen as boosting investor sentiment and driving the turnaround for Vodafone following significant government relief on
A PTI report stated that Birla had, on several occasions, given up hope of continuing the operations of Vodafone Idea following the Supreme Court order in 2019 on the company’s AGR dues.
AGR relief from govt
However, the government has extended a fresh lifeline by allowing conversion of debt into equity, along with a significant reduction in the AGR dues, as it looks to avoid the telecom sector turning into a duopoly.
The government has relaxed Vodafone’s AGR dues by about 27% to ₹64,046 crore after reassessing the statutory dues from ₹87,695 crore frozen by the cabinet on December 31, 2025.
The figure, though, is 20% below what was outstanding as per the company. However, global brokerage Citi said that with no interest accruing and the effective 10-year repayment moratorium remaining in place (99% of the dues are payable over FY36-41), this meaningfully improves the economics of the liability.
This AGR relief also leaves Vodafone in a better position to close its pending ₹25,000 crore bank debt raise, which would, in turn, enable it to commence execution of its ₹45,000 crore three-year capex plan that was outlined by the management in the January 2026 strategy update. “Closure of this debt funding will therefore now be key to monitor,” said Citi, which has pegged Vodafone Idea’s share price target at ₹14.
Vodafone Idea also added 21,927 wireless subscribers in February 2026, marking its first subscriber increase in five years.
The company, however, remains loss-making as it reported a loss of ₹17,418 crore during the nine months ended December 2025, and its net worth stood at negative ₹87,744 crore.
(With inputs from PTI)
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