Vodafone-Idea Cellular merger in final stage of approval: Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan

New Delhi: The merger plan of telecom operators Vodafone India and Idea Cellular is in the “final stage of approval”, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said on Tuesday. The mega merger has already received the green light from NCLT and markets regulator SEBI, and according to Sundararajan, the telecom department “is in the process of expediting it”. [caption id=“attachment_3342802” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Vodafone-Idea Cellular merger in final stage of approval: Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan. Reuters image.[/caption] She was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) event catalysing 5G launch in the country. Last week, Vodafone and Idea announced the leadership team for their soon-to-be-merged entity, with Kumar Mangalam Birla as the non-executive chairman and Balesh Sharma as the new CEO. The merger - slated to create India’s largest telecom operator in terms of customer base and revenue market share - is expected to be completed by June this year, subject to statutory approvals, the companies had stated.