Idea shares gain over 4% on reports of final govt nod to merger with Vodafone

Shares of Idea Cellular rose by over 4 per cent today amid reports that the government gave final approval to the mega merger of Vodafone and the company.

The stock moved up by 3.64 per cent to settle at Rs 56.95 on BSE. During the day, it soared 4.64 per cent to Rs 57.50.

On NSE, shares of the company jumped 4.18 per cent to close at Rs 57.20.

The company's market valuation rose by Rs 872.68 crore to Rs 24,829.68 crore.

In terms of equity volume, 17.77 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 2 crore shares changed hands on NSE during the day.

A senior DoT official today said that the final approval of the mega Idea-Vodafone has been accorded today and the entities will now approach Registrar of Companies (RoC) for stipulated filings for approval, completing the last leg of formalities.

The move comes just days after Idea Cellular and Vodafone India made a joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore 'under protest' to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for merging their mobile businesses.

The merger will create the country's largest mobile operator with 35 per cent market share and around 430 million subscribers.