Vodafone Idea Elevates Akshaya Moondra as CEO; to Replace Ravinder Takkar

Telecom firm Vodafone Idea on Friday announced the elevation of present chief financial officer Akshay Moondra as its new chief executive officer with effect from August 19, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company’s present managing director and chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar will continue to be on the board of the company as a non-executive and non-independent director post completion of his tenure, the filing said.

“The board of the company has, based on the recommendation of the nomination and remuneration committee, appointed Akshaya Moondra, currently the chief financial officer of the company, as the chief executive officer of the company for a period of 3 years effective August 19,” it added. Takkar was appointed MD and CEO of Vodafone Idea on August 19, 2019, for a term of three years which was scheduled to end on August 18.

The company will announce a new CFO in due course, according to the filing.

Meanwhile, in a recent data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Vodafone Idea was reported to have lost 759,258 subscribers in May.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel added 1.02 million wireless subscribers during the month, whereas Reliance Jio added around 3.1 million subscribers.

In June, it was reported that Jio gained 1.68 million mobile subscribers in April, cementing its lead in the market, while Bharti Airtel added 0.81 million users, according to TRAI data. Vodafone Idea lost about 15.7 lakh mobile subscribers during April 2022, according to monthly subscriber data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The regulator’s data revealed that India’s total wireless subscribers count had increased marginally to 114.3 crore at the end of April.