Kumar Mangalam Birla steps down as non-executive chairman of Vodafone Idea; Himanshu Kapania to take over

Picture: BloombergQuint

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group (ABG) has resigned from his position of non-executive chairman and director of Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) with effect from close of business hours on August 4, 2021.

Following the development, Himanshu Kapania, currently non-executive director and the former managing director of the erstwhile Idea Cellular will be taking over Birla’s position.Kapania served on the global GSMA board for two years and was also chairman of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

Birla, who was earlier chairman of Idea Cellular, took over as chairman of the combined entity, following its merger with Vodafone India in August 2018.

His resignation comes less than two months after Birla offered to hand over the group’s 27.66 per cent stake in Vi to any public sector or domestic financial entity that could keep the company afloat.