Government ducks Vodafone plea for funds

Kumar Mangalam Birla has met telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and urged the Centre to make good on its promise to convert Vodafone Idea’s dues into equity. Birla is the chairman of the Aditya Birla group, a promoter of Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) along with the UK’s Vodafone.

The promise was made in September 2021 but the government has insisted that it won’t convert the company’s debt into equity until the promoters pump in fresh funds which have led to this standoff.

The Vodafone Idea equity has been trading below par — another reason why the government has been dragging its feet on the conversion at a loss. The stock is quoting at Rs 7.93 on the BSE on Thursday against a face value of Rs 10.