Axiata Group nominee on Idea Cellular board resigns

Telecom operator Idea Cellular today said Hansa Wijayasuriya, Axiata Group's nominee on the company's board, has tendered his resignation with immediate effect.

Accordingly, Wijayasuriya also ceases to be a member of audit committee of the board of directors of Idea, the company said in a regulatory filing.

"We wish to inform you that Hansa Wijayasuriya, nominee of Axiata Group Berhad on the board of Idea Cellular Limited (Idea), has tendered his resignation from the board of Idea effective today i.e. March 30, 2018, pursuant to withdrawal of his nomination by the Axiata Group Berhad," it said.

India's third largest operator Idea Cellular is in the process of merging with Vodafone, and the mega merger plan of the telcos is in the final stage of approval at the telecom department.

Earlier this month, Vodafone and Idea announced the leadership team for their soon-to-be-merged entity, with Kumar Mangalam Birla as the non-executive chairman and Balesh Sharma as the new CEO.

The merger - slated to create India's largest telecom operator in terms of customer base and revenue market share dislodging market leader Airtel - is expected to be completed by June this year, subject to statutory clearances, the companies had earlier stated.