NEW DELHI: India’s third largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea (VI) is finally profitable. On Saturday, it reported a net profit of Rs 51,986 crore in the March quarter – perhaps a record for any company – against a loss of Rs 7,168 crore in the corresponding period of 2025.This was thanks to a one-time accounting gain from the government’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) subsidy, which prompted promoter Aditya Birla Group to commit to a capital infusion of Rs 4,730 crore through one of its companies Suryaja Investments Pte Ltd, Singapore.The company’s board has approved the issuance of up to Rs 430 crore worth of warrants, each convertible into shares, representing a 3.82% stake, to Suryaja Investments at an issue price of ₹11 per warrant, according to an exchange filing.The first profit in six years – and a big one too – means the beleaguered VI saw a profit of Rs 34,552 crore during the last financial year, against a loss of Rs 27,384 crore in 2024-25. Annual consolidated revenue from operations rose 3% to Rs 44,783 crore from Rs 43,572 crore last year.“Therefore, as per IAS 109, the financial liability of Rs 80,502 crore as on December 31, 2025 has been derecognised and the revised financial liability of Rs 24,880 crore has been recognised, which is the present value of future payments as stated above.
“The resulting difference of Rs 55,622 crore (including the impact of revalued amount) along with net impact of other related provisions has been credited to the profit and loss statement,” the company said in a regulatory filing.The results indicate that the company is back in business after losing subscribers to rivals Jio and Bharti Airtel. In recent months, it has ramped up its operations, focusing again on adding new customers and improving the quality of its offerings.The government had last December frozen Vodafone Idea’s AGR dues amounting to Rs 87,695 crore. Subsequently, the government in April this year reduced VI’s AGR dues by Rs 23,600 crore to Rs 64,046 crore after recalculation, deferring the bulk of its payments for 10 years, to be paid from 2035-36 to 2040-41.