India’s backdoor nationalisation of Vodafone Idea marks a fresh twist in the telecom saga. The government now owns 49% of the company, up from 22.6%, making it the largest shareholder. Billed as a life raft for the troubled operator, the move is better seen as a symptom of deeper structural rot in the sector—and the fiscal reckoning that lies ahead.Vodafone Idea has long struggled under the weight of accumulated losses, falling market share, and an unsustainable debt pile. The company owed ₹ 2.03 trillion to the government, including deferred payment obligations towards spectrum (₹ 1.33 trillion) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR, ₹ 0.7 trillion). Of this, ₹370 billion was due in the near term. Converting these into equity may offer breathing space, but it does little to fix the sector’s broken fundamentals.
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