The proposed merger of Vodafone India, Vodafone Mobile Services and Idea Cellular to form Vodafone Idea now awaits the dissolution order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai Bench, for VMSL and VIL.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given its nod to the proposed merger which is expected to create India's largest telecom service provider.
"The merger is now subject to National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench, passing the dissolution order of VMSL and VIL, which is expected shortly," Idea Cellular said in a regulatory filing to the BSE on Friday.
Vodafone India and Aditya Birla Group-promoted Idea Cellular on March 20, 2017 announced their much-awaited amalgamation.
This will create the country’s largest mobile phone operator worth more than $23 billion having a market share of 35 per cent.
A senior government official told news agency PTI that DoT approved the merger after the two firms provided for 7,248.78 crore as one-time spectrum charge (OTSC).
"We expect to see robust growth in the telecom sector with the emergence of three strong private sector players, and one public sector player," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told PTI.
The new entity, Vodafone Idea Ltd., with around 430 million customers will surpass Bharti Airtel which currently has 344 million users.
Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the Non-Executive Chairman of the merged company, while the current Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone India, Balesh Sharma will become the Chief Executive.
While Vodafone would own 45.1 per cent stake, Aditya Birla Group will have 26 per cent and shareholders of Idea Cellular the remaining 28.9 per cent, in the combined entity.
Vodafone Idea is expected to have a subscriber base of over 400 million.
"In India, where competition remains intense, we have now received conditional approval from the Department of Telecoms for the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which we aim to close before the end of August, allowing us to unlock substantial synergies," Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao had said earlier.
With IANS inputs