DoT gives conditional approval to Idea and Vodafone merger

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given conditional approval to the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular and has sought over Rs 72 billion from the companies as one-time spectrum charges (OTSC) and spectrum liberalisation fees. This includes a bank guarantee of more than Rs 33 billion from Idea Cellular as OTSC and Rs 39 billion from Vodafone India for the administrative spectrum that was awarded to it when it began operations.