Britain’s Vodafone Group and India’s Idea Cellular received the telecom department’s permission to merge their Indian operations in a $23-billion deal, creating the country’s biggest telecoms business.

The combined entity would have almost 400 million customers, overtaking market leader Bharti Airtel to account for about 40 percent of revenue of the world’s second-biggest mobile phone services market by users after China.

The telecom department finally approved the deal only after Idea and Vodafone India agreed to cough up Rs 7,268 crore, including bank guarantee.

Idea, a part of the Aditya Birla conglomerate, and Vodafone signed a merger agreement last year. The merger follows a broader trend by India’s network operators who are rushing to consolidate amidst a fierce price war sparked by the entry of Reliance Jio.

Shares of Idea Cellular rose 3.1% to Rs 56.65 at 3:05 pm on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Disclosure:

RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.

First Published:Jul 26, 2018 3:08 PM IST