Aditya Birla Group to invest $500 million in Vodafone Idea as revival signal strengthens

Aditya Birla Group will invest ₹4,730 crore (about $500 million) in Vodafone Idea (Vi), reinforcing the debt-laden telecom company’s financial health and its capability to continue challenging bigger rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

The Vi board Saturday approved a preferential allotment of convertible warrants to Suryaja Investments, a Singapore-based entity of Aditya Birla Group, marking a fresh capital infusion from the company’s promoters. Upon full conversion, Suryaja Investments will hold up to 3.82% stake in Vi, according to a regulatory filing.

The fund infusion tracks promoter Kumar Mangalam Birla return as chairman of Vi board earlier this month.


Meanwhile, Vi—a joint venture between UK’s Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group—posted a net profit of ₹51,976 crore for the March quarter, boosted by a one-time gain due to deferment of statutory liabilities. Barring the exceptional gain, Vi incurred a net loss of ₹5,515 crore in the three months ended March 31, though narrowing from the previous quarter’s ₹6,368 crore.

The country’s third-largest telecom operator by market share signalled a turnaround momentum in its financial and operational health, with per-capita revenue showing industry leading growth and monthly subscriber addition turning positive since February 26. “Gains from capex investments and network rollout are now clearly visible,” said Abhijit Kishore, chief executive, Vi. “Q4FY26 marks a decisive step forward with all seven key parameters that we benchmark our performance to, demonstrating sequential improvement.”

Vi also announced the appointment of telecom veteran MP Sunil Kumar as chief enterprise business officer. Kumar will replace Arvind Nevatia.

For the March quarter, Vi posted revenue of ₹11,333 crore, unchanged sequentially while growing 2.9% from a year earlier. For the full fiscal year, Vi swung to a net profit of ₹34,548 crore, from a net loss of ₹27,368 crore in FY25, thanks to exceptional gains. Revenue rose 3% to ₹44,873 crore.

Average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric of telecom profitability, improved to ₹190 in the quarter, from ₹186 in Q3 and Rs 175 a year earlier, marking a 2.2% sequential and 8.6% annual increase, driven by 4G/5G upgrades.

V however continues to lose subscribers. Its overall user base declined marginally to 192.8 million from 192.9 million in the December quarter and 198.2 million a year earlier. There was however continued migration to higher-value users, with 4G/5G subscriber tally rising to 128.9 million from 128.5 million sequentially and 126.4 million a year earlier.

Vi spent ₹18,000 crore on capex last fiscal to enhance network quality and expand 4G coverage, while preparing for a gradual 5G rollout to remain competitive against Airtel and Jio.

Better 5G Networks

As of March-end, the telco expanded its 4G coverage to cover more than 48 million users besides rolling out 5G in more than 80 cities.

Vi is aiming to spend ₹45,000 crore in capex over the next three years to accelerate network upgrades, achieve 5G parity in key markets and drive a turnaround in performance, the management had said in its post-earnings call this January. The telco is also targeting a double-digit revenue growth and three times its Ebitda in three years.

Last month, the government cut Vi’s AGR dues by 27% to ₹64,046 crore and allowed staggered repayments, spread over 16 years until 2041, providing a significant cash flow relief. However, the telco is still grappling with a total debt burden of nearly ₹1.8 lakh crore comprising statutory dues. Of this, ₹1.2 lakh crore relates to spectrum dues.