Blog · 7 Sep 2026
Is Vodafone Idea finally making a comeback?
In today's Finshots, we explore whether Vodafone Idea has finally done enough to reverse its long-standing cycle of decline.But here's a quick sidenote be…
In today's Finshots, we explore whether Vodafone Idea has finally done enough to reverse its long-standing cycle of decline.But here's a quick sidenote before we begin.
We’ll be taking a publishing off tomorrow on account of Independence Day. But don’t worry, we’ll send you a quick wrapup in our Sunday newsletter, along with the weekly quiz and quiz toppers. See you in the Sunny Side Up, and happy Independence Day, folks!Now, on to today’s story.The StoryWhen I interviewed for Finshots with our co-founder, Shrehith, we had an extensive conversation about all sorts of things, from the stock market and interest rates to government policy and the broader economy. But one conversation has stayed with me.
We spent quite a bit of time talking about Vodafone Idea and whether the company could ever make a comeback. You see, at the time, the answer seemed far from obvious. The company had been losing customers, its network was falling behind Jio and Airtel, and its balance sheet was under enormous pressure.But if you stepped back and looked at the business, the problems were actually quite clear.Vodafone Idea needed capital to upgrade its network, a solution to its enormous debt and AGR liabilities, a faster migration of customers from 2G to 4G and 5G, and a greater focus on retaining active, high-value subscribers.These problems fed into one another.