Podcast | Vodafone and Idea to pay over Rs 7,000 crore to DoT under protest

Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have paid Rs 7,248.78 crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for their planned merger. The payment has reportedly been made under protest.

The telecom regulator had approved the merger of the two companies on July 9. The merged entitiy will be India’s largest telecom operator, worth over $23 billion.

Vodafone will own 49.51 percent of the new company, while Aditya Birla Group will have a 26 percent stake. The remaining 28.9 percent will be held by Idea shareholders. 

The merger will creat a three-pronged battle in the telecom sector between Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance's Jio.