When Kumar Mangalam Birla stepped down as chairman of Vodafone Idea in August 2021, the company was fighting for survival. Regulatory dues had piled up, lenders were wary, subscribers were leaving in millions every quarter, and the possibility of the telecom operator shutting shop no longer seemed remote.
Nearly five years later, as Birla prepares to return to the chairman’s office, the company he left behind looks markedly different. The crisis has not disappeared, nor has the balance sheet suddenly turned healthy. But the immediate fear of collapse has eased, government liabilities have been recalibrated, and the conversation around the company has shifted from survival to whether a recovery, however cautious, is finally possible.
The contrast is sharp. In 2021, Vodafone Idea’s fate hinged almost entirely on whether the government would intervene after the Supreme Court’s AGR ruling left telecom operators facing massive statutory dues. Weeks after Birla’s resignation, the Centre unveiled a telecom relief package that allowed operators to defer spectrum and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments. Vodafone Idea opted for the moratorium, buying itself time at a moment when options were rapidly running out.
That breathing space, however, did not immediately translate into operational stability. The company continued to lose subscribers, struggled to invest in networks, and steadily fell behind rivals in the 5G race. In 2022, the conversion of deferred AGR interest into equity turned the government into the single-largest shareholder with a stake of about 33%, underscoring both the scale of the stress and the state’s growing role in keeping the company afloat.
The first signs of financial stabilisation emerged in 2024 when Vodafone Idea raised Rs 18,000 crore through a follow-on public offer. The capital infusion helped the company expand and modernise its 4G network, even as peers such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel accelerated nationwide 5G roll-outs.
The more consequential shift came through the courts. In October 2025, the Supreme Court brought clarity to the long-running AGR dispute, paving the way for a reassessment of dues. By April this year, Vodafone Idea’s liabilities had been reduced by around Rs 23,600 crore, or 27%, bringing total AGR dues down to Rs 64,046 crore.
More importantly for the company’s cash flows, the payment structure was stretched over a much longer horizon. Annual AGR payouts for the next six years were cut to just Rs 124 crore, followed by Rs 100 crore annually for another four years. The heavier repayments will now begin only from FY36 onwards, when the company is scheduled to pay over Rs 10,600 crore annually till FY41.
Operationally too, there have been tentative improvements. Vodafone Idea has now commercially launched 5G services, though it has not yet disclosed subscriber metrics for the business. The company has indicated that data usage has risen since March 2025, while monthly subscriber churn excluding machine-to-machine users stayed below one million in January and February this year, a significant improvement from earlier periods.
The larger challenge remains fundraising. The proposed Rs 25,000 crore debt raise is still pending, even as the company unveiled a three-year capital expenditure plan of Rs 45,000 crore earlier this year aimed at reviving subscriber additions and tripling Ebitda. Birla himself has signalled renewed confidence, both through optimistic public messaging and by increasing his personal stake through open-market purchases earlier this year.
For a company that once seemed headed for insolvency, that alone marks a significant change.