Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio gain from debt-laden Vodafone Idea's pain

The two firms' revenue market share has risen 1,300 bps in two years

The growing financial and operational misery of Vodafone Idea (Vi) – the country’s number three mobile operator – has become an opportunity for the company’s two big rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio.

The two firms’ stock prices shot up on Thursday, spurred by the worsening of Vi’s financial outlook after Kumar Mangalam Birla resigned from the company’s board on Wednesday.

Bharti Airtel was the top-performing index stock on Thursday and closed the day with gains of 4.3 per cent. At one time, the stock was up 8 per cent intra-day — its best performance over the last year. Reliance