Govt gives final nod to Vodafone-Idea merger

The Department of Telecom (DoT) on Thursday gave final approval to the mega-merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular, which will create the country's largest mobile operator with around 430 million subscribers.

After Idea Cellular and Vodafone India made a joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore for merging their mobile businesses, the DoT gave its final approval for the merger. The entities will now approach the Registrar of Companies (RoC) for stipulated filings for approval, completing the last leg of formalities.

The DoT gave a conditional nod to the merger on July 9 and asked the two firms to meet the demand raised for taking the merger on record.

Once the merger process is completed, the new entity will create the country’s largest telecom operator worth over $ 23 billion (over Rs 1.5 lakh crore), with 35% customer market share.

The merger will also help both the firms to tide over their debt and face competition in the industry, that has intensified after entry of Reliance Jio into the market.

Merger entails the transfer of licenses of Vodafone India and Vodafone Mobile Services Limited to Idea Cellular. The combined entity will begin working as single entity-Vodafone Idea Limited.

Vodafone will own 45.1% stake in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group would have 26% and Idea shareholders 28.9%.