Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 29 (ANI): The share price of Vodafone Idea surged by over 31 per cent during early hours on Friday after reports indicated that Google is looking to enter the Indian telecom market with a 5 per cent stake purchase in the embattled telco.

A deal with Google could be a lifeline for Vodafone Idea, which owes as much as Rs 54,000 crore in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to the government.

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Experts said a potential deal between Google and Vodafone Idea will heat up competition in one of the world's largest and fastest-growing data consumption markets.

At 11:40 am, Vodafone Idea was trading 31.27 per cent higher at Rs 7.64 per share.

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The report comes almost a month after social media giant Facebook picked up 9.9 per cent stake for Rs 43,574 crore in Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms.

Jio Platforms has since seen investments from global private equity players such as General Atlantic, Silver Lake Partners, Silver Lake Partners and KKR. (ANI)

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