Kumar Mangalam Birla willing to give up his stake in Vodafone Idea to a PSU

Mumbai | New Delhi: Aditya Birla Group (ABG) chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had nearly two months ago offered to hand over the group’s 27.66s% stake in Vodafone Idea (VIL) to any public sector or domestic financial entity who could keep the company afloat, while asserting that without immediate government support, the telco would be driven to an irretrievable point of collapse.

“It is with a sense of duty towards the 27 crore (270 million) Indians connected by VIL, I am more than willing to hand over my stake in the company to any entity – public sector/government/domestic financial entity, or any other that the government may consider worthy of keeping the company as a going concern,” Birla said in a letter dated June 7 to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba. He further said potential foreign investors wanted the government to show clear intent of its keenness to have a three player telecom market.