Music composer and investor Sulaiman Merchant said a pandemic-era bet on Vodafone Idea drew him into stocks as the Indian telecom company faced a Supreme Court dispute over adjusted gross revenue dues.
Merchant said the idea came from a conversation with his brother-in-law and that he considered the company before a Supreme Court hearing whose date he did not identify. At NDTV Profit IGNITE 2026 in Mumbai on Wednesday, Oct. 28, he described the trade as a gamble rather than an investment based on detailed analysis.
NDTV Profit reported that Merchant recalled buying about 50,000 to 100,000 shares at around ₹2.30 each and later selling them for about ₹7 to ₹7.50 each.
Vodafone Idea's FY2019-20 annual report lists March 2020 monthly lows of ₹2.91 on BSE and ₹2.70 on NSE. Since Merchant did not provide a purchase date, those figures alone do not show what he paid.
The company said the Supreme Court's Oct. 24, 2019, decision accepted the Department of Telecommunications' interpretation of how adjusted gross revenue (AGR) should be calculated, with significant financial consequences for Vodafone Idea. The annual report also cited auditors' concerns about the company's ability to continue as a going concern, linked to AGR liabilities and debt covenants.
The Supreme Court's March 18, 2020, order required telecom companies to pay the determined AGR liabilities with interest and penalties, and blocked a fresh calculation of those dues. Vodafone Idea attached the order to a March 19 exchange filing.
Merchant said rising prices made investing exciting and drew him further into following markets. He also said some holdings are hard for him to sell: “There are some things which I don't feel like letting go.”
