Kumar Mangalam Birla has taken over as the Chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd (Vi) effective May 5, 2026, following the stepping down of former-Chairman Ravinder Takkar.
On Tuesday evening, Vi’s board of directors “approved the appointment of Kumar Mangalam Birla, a Non-Executive Director, as the Non-Executive Chairman of the board... with effect from May 5, 2026,” as per an exchange filing. Having resigned from his earlier role, Takkar will work as the Non-Executive Vice-Chairman of the board.
Birla was the Non-Executive Director of the board prior to the new appointment and is the Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Group.
Earlier, Birla increased his stake in Vi by 2.21 crore shares on January 30 and another 1.88 crore shares on February 1 at ₹11.13 per share. This was shortly after his speech in January praising the telco for weathering the shocks and volatility in the sector for over 20 years and working its way towards a “revival as the third major telecom company in India.”
Referring to the moratorium granted to Vi by the Indian government, Birla had said “the fog has cleared for the first time in years,” allowing Vi to look beyond survival towards sustainable growth.
The company’s stocks rose 2.56 per cent to ₹10.50 on the BSE on Tuesday.
Published on May 5, 2026