NEW DELHI: Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said that the government is keen on clearing the much delayed Idea-Vodafone merger immediately, but is waiting for the Department of Telecom (DoT) to complete statutory formalities.
“There is no delay from the department or the government’s side. DoT has set rules for every merger and acquisition. Idea-Vodafone merger will be cleared without a single second delay once DoT completes all statutory formalities,” Sinha said on the sidelines of the inauguration of Ericsson’s 5G test lab at IIT Delhi.
The merger deal between India’s second and third largest telecom service provider (TSP) which would form India’s biggest TSP was expected to be completed by the end of last month, but a demand notice against Vodafone India by DoT to clear dues of nearly Rs 4,700 crore for one-time spectrum charges (OTSC) is delaying the merger.
In 2015, Vodafone had merged its four subsidiaries —Vodafone East, Vodafone South, Vodafone Cellular and Vodafone Digilink with Vodafone Mobile Services, which is now called Vodafone India. The DoT at that time had asked Vodafone to clear OTSC dues worth Rs 6,678 crore but the company challenged it in the court. Following the SC order, Vodafone had paid only Rs 2,000 crore to get the deal cleared. The DoT now wants Vodafone to clear pending amount before it is merged with Idea Cellular.