Telecom services provider Vodafone Idea refuted rumors that it was in talks to merge with Elon Musk's Starlink.

"We would like to submit that the Company is not in any such discussion with the named party," Vodafone Idea said in an exchange filing.

The BSE, the stock exchange, requested clarification on a news article stating that Musk may partner with Vodafone Idea to join the Indian cellular business, which led to a spike in the stock price on Friday.

In order to allow Starlink to enter the Indian market, there have been rumors in the market for the past several months suggesting that the Indian government may sell Musk its 33.1 percent share in Vodafone Idea.

"We are not aware of the basis of the said news item," the company said in response.

Musk, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Jio, and Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel, three billionaires, will face off if Vodafone Idea follows Starlink's lead, despite the stories' lack of evidence.

Last week, bettors had another chance to wager on Vodafone Idea shares due to a story indicating that the richest man in the world is probably going to go from America to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Business Summit on January 10–12 in order to announce the opening of Tesla's plant in India.

The stock had risen 21 percent last Friday and then another six percent yesterday as a result of this news. After the telecom clarified its position today, the stock of the company fell more than four percent. The last six months have already seen a double in the stock.

While operating revenue increased marginally by 0.9 percent to Rs 10,716 crore in Q2, the company's consolidated net loss worsened to Rs 8,738 crore. The average revenue per user (ARPU) for the reporting period increased sequentially by 2.1 percent to Rs 142 from Rs 139 in the preceding quarter.