Vodafone-Idea merger complete, becomes operational
New Delhi, Aug 31 : The merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular is complete after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger, creating India's largest telecom operator with over 400 million subscribers, a joint statement by the two companies said on Friday.
The clearance from the tribunal was the last leg of official approvals after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) cleared the merger last month.
"Idea Cellular (renamed as 'Vodafone Idea Limited') -- an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership -- becomes operational as India's leading telecom service provider with a subscriber base of over 408 million," the statement said on Friday.
The new Board of Directors constituted for Vodafone Idea comprises 12 Directors, including six "independent Directors", with Kumar Mangalam Birla as the Chairman. The Board has appointed Balesh Sharma as the CEO, it said.
The new company will have a market share of 32.2 per cent, as per the statement.
"The merger is expected to generate Rs 140 billion annual synergy, including opex synergies of Rs 84 billion, equivalent to a net present value of approximately Rs 700 billion," it said.
Vodafone Group owns a 45.2 per cent stake and Aditya Birla Group owns a 26 per cent stake, both on fully diluted basis.
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
ALSO READ: Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
