Kumar Mangalam Birla, Vodafone Idea executives meet Cabinet Secretary

NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and senior company executives are believed to have met top bureaucrats late last week to seek urgent relief from the government, warning that failure to do so could pose stiff business challenges for the telco and rapidly lead to a monopoly situation in the telecom industry.

Birla, also chairman of the Aditya Birla Group—a co-promoter of Vodafone Idea—is learnt to have met Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba at a private meeting last Friday, a person with direct knowledge told ET. Gauba heads the panel of secretaries set up by the government to suggest measures to restore the health of the industry, laden with debt of over Rs 7 lakh crore and with no carrier making profits, except for latest entrant Reliance Jio.