India, Oct. 11 -- The government will not increase its equity stake beyond 48.9% in Vodafone Idea (Vi) in the near future, Union minister for communications Jyotiraditya Scindia said at a media interaction on the sidelines of the the India Mobile Congress (IMC) event on Thursday. He had earlier said that increasing stake further in the financially struggling private telecom operator would turn it into a public sector unit.

In April 2025, the government had increased its stake in Vi to 48.9% from 22.6%, following the conversion of Rs.36,950 crore of the company's spectrum payment dues into equity shares. A key objective behind the move was to avert a situation where the telecom industry is dominated by the duopoly of Airtel and Jio.

"We ...