Govt okays Idea-Voda merger, some formalities pending: Sinha

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said on Wednesday that the government has approved the Idea Cellular and Vodafone India merger, the sector's biggest, but the companies need to complete some formalities for the final closure of the deal.

"We have already approved merger of IdeaVodafone. There are some formalities which are pending that they have to complete for it (the merger)," Sinha said, the first on-record confirmation from the government side.

Top management of Vodafone met the minister on Tuesday after the deal was given conditional approval by the Department of Telecom on July 9. "They met me and to thanked that we have done it very quickly," Sinha said.

"We would like to see that the merger is completed at the earliest because we too want the sector is stabilised. This is an important step for stabilising the sector," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said.

The DoT has demanded payment of Rs 3,976 crore for one time spectrum charge of Vodafone India, and joint bank guarantee of Rs 3,342 crore sought by DoT before it grants final approval for the merger.