New Delhi: The merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular is on track and is expected to be completed in calendar year 2018, a top Vodafone official said on Wednesday. Asked whether the merger of the two telecom firms - Idea Cellular and Vodafone India - was on course, Vodafone India MD and CEO Sunil Sood said: "Absolutely." He spoke on the sidelines of India Mobile Congress here. Stating that the merger process goes through various stages, including approvals from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Department of Telecom, Mr Sood said: "We feel all of them are on track and in fact, we are going ahead on schedule."
On the timeline for completion of the merger, he said it will happen by 2018.
Earlier this year, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had agreed to merge their operations to create the country's largest telecom operator worth more than $23 billion with a 35 per cent market share.
The combined entity of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which are currently India's number 2 and 3, respectively, would dislodge Bharti Airtel to counter the fierce price war in the world's second-largest telecom market.
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