Vodafone Idea (Vi) shares rose 6% in intraday trade on Friday on heavy activity after the firm announced the reappointment of Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla as an extra director, less than two years after he left the mobile service provider.

Birla, a former chairman of the bankrupt telecom company, will join the board on April 20, according to an exchange statement from Vodafone’s Indian joint venture. He resigned as the business’s non-executive chairman in August 2021, just two months after giving his whole interest to a public sector or domestic financial company. He is also the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, which owns 8.36% of Vodafone Idea as of February 7.

Earlier in the day, the telecom firm announced that Krishna Kishore Maheshwari, a former top executive of Aditya Birla Group-owned Ultratech Cement Ltd, had stepped down as a non-executive director for personal reasons. It also accepted non-executive director Krishna Kishore Maheshwari’s resignation from the board.

Birla’s nomination to the board demonstrates the group’s commitment to the firm while it seeks an investor. The firm, which has yet to satisfy vendor debts, is also negotiating with banks about acquiring more financing. Raising capital is critical for the firm to make new network investments and stop customer attrition. The firm also continues to lose money, reporting a net loss of Rs 7,990 crore in Q3FY23.

Vodafone Idea’s net debt was Rs 2.23 trillion ($27.18 billion) when the Indian government converted roughly $2 billion in debt into equity in February, becoming the company’s largest shareholder. The government authorised a bailout package for debt-ridden telecom businesses in 2021, allowing them to convert interest on delayed adjusted gross revenue owed to the government into equity.

At 12:32 pm, Vi traded 5.79% higher at Rs 6.4, while the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.19%. The average trading volume at the counter increased 1.5 times, with 180 million equity shares traded on the NSE and BSE. On March 31, 2023, the stock reached a 52-week low of Rs 5.70. It has fallen 44% from its 52-week high of Rs 10.23, set on May 31, 2022.