Idea to become Vodafone Idea

The board of Idea Cellular has called for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) recently, to approve changing the name of ‘Idea Cellular Limited’ to ‘Vodafone Idea Limited’, as the merger of India's second and third ranked telcos nears completion.

The EGM will also consider the board's plan to raise funds via nonconvertible securities of not more than ₹15,000 crore, which may be used to pare debt, with the merged entity looking to strengthen its balance sheet to take on rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are in the final leg of getting regulatory approvals for merging their operations to create what will be the largest telecom firm in the country, with an almost 42% customer market share and 37% revenue market share.