Vodafone Idea share price has broken out near its 52-week high around ₹11.08, firing up fresh hopes of a big rally among retail investors who have waited for years in this beaten-down telecom stock. But the real question you need answered is simple: is this just a short-term bounce or the start of a serious turnaround story?
Latest price and breakout reason:
As of mid-December 2025, Vodafone Idea is trading close to ₹11, after hitting a 52-week high of about ₹11.08 in November 2025, up roughly 35% in the last one year. This move has come on the back of visible progress on fundraising, debt refinancing and plans to finally speed up 4G/5G network expansion.
The company’s infrastructure arm is raising thousands of crores through bonds at double‑digit yields, and the board has already cleared a larger fund-raise of up to ₹20,000 crore via equity and debt, which the market sees as crucial lifeline money for capex and AGR dues. Technical indicators like bullish EMA crossovers on daily charts have also attracted traders, adding fuel to the 52‑week high breakout.
Vodafone Idea is not a typical single-founder story; it is a joint venture born from the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. On one side stands Vodafone Group from the UK, and on the other is the Aditya Birla Group led by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, with the Government of India now the largest shareholder after converting part of its dues into equity. Post-merger, Vodafone Group held around 45% and the Aditya Birla Group about 26%, while the rest was with public investors; later, the government stake climbed to nearly 49% after the AGR dues conversion. This unique mix of global MNC, Indian conglomerate and government ownership is one of the biggest reasons many investors still believe survival odds are high despite losses and heavy debt.
The story started in the 1990s with Birla Communications, which later became Idea Cellular as it brought in partners like AT&T and then merged with Tata Cellular to grow pan‑India. Vodafone entered India by buying stakes in Hutch and built a strong urban brand before both Vodafone India and Idea Cellular agreed to merge in 2017 to fight Jio and Airtel. The merger was completed in August 2018, creating the largest telecom operator by subscribers, and in 2020 the unified brand “Vi” was launched. However, massive AGR-related dues, market share loss, weak 4G networks and years of losses pushed the stock to penny levels, and only now, after equity infusions and planned 5G capex, are investors again talking about a possible long-term revival.
For Vodafone Idea, a reasonable expectation (not a guarantee) is that the share could trade in the ₹15–₹22 zone by 2026 if the current price near ₹11–₹11.25 holds its breakout, fund-raising goes through, and 4G/5G capex shows visible results. If the turnaround continues with tariff hikes, stable 3‑player competition and better ARPU, the stock might gradually move towards ₹25–₹40 by 2030, ₹40–₹70 by 2035 and possibly ₹70–₹120 by 2040 as a long-term recovery story, but all these levels remain highly speculative and depend on execution, debt reduction and policy support.
