Vodafone Idea appoints Manoj Murali as COO, effective October 19

Vodafone Idea Ltd has appointed Manoj Murali as its chief operating officer (COO), effective October 19, the telecom operator said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The appointment was approved by the company’s board based on the recommendation of its Nomination and Remuneration Committee, according to the filing dated October 16.

Murali, 55, has more than 25 years of experience in the telecom and mobility sectors. He has worked across large-scale operations in India and Africa, with a focus on revenue growth, market share and profitability.

Murali was chief business officer at Ola Electric

Murali was appointed Chief Business Officer at Ola Electric in July 2026, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he served as Regional Business Head – West at Reliance Jio from December 2024 to June 2026. He also spent more than two decades at Bharti Airtel, where his experience spanned telecom operations and business management.

According to Vodafone Idea, Murali has led business turnarounds across sales, marketing, distribution, operations and customer experience. His experience spans mobile, broadband, direct-to-home (DTH), payments banking, mobile commerce and digital businesses, covering business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) operations.

Murali holds an MBA degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Poona.

His appointment comes as Vodafone Idea continues to operate in a competitive telecom market, where operators are investing in network infrastructure and seeking to improve subscriber retention and revenue growth.

In August 2025, Vodafone Idea appointed Abhijit Kishore, who was then serving as COO, as its chief executive officer. He succeeded Akshaya Moondra in the role.

Murali’s appointment fills the COO position following Kishore’s elevation to the top executive role.

Shares of Vodafone Idea ended 0.56% higher at ₹12.59 apiece on the NSE on Friday. The stock has gained over 42% in the past year, outperforming the Nifty Next 50 index that has declined nearly 1% during the period.