Company Outsider: Vodafone’s bailout vs Air India’s sell-off: a confusing U-turn by the government

It is difficult to reconcile the Indian government’s actions in repeatedly bailing out Vodafone Idea on the one hand with its decision three years ago to let go of the state-controlled Air India (AI). In the case of Vodafone, the conversion into equity of billions of dollars in dues to the government seems to be driven by the need to prevent the vital telecom services sector from turning into a duopoly of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. While that’s a laudable…