After opening the day flat share markets in India are trading on a dull note and are presently trading marginally below the dotted line. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note, with stocks in the IT sector and stocks in the pharma sector witnessing maximum buying interest.
The BSE Sensex is trading down by 80 points (down 0.2%) and the NSE Nifty is trading down by 22 points (down 0.2%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.1%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.2%. The rupee is trading at 68.15 to the US$.
In news from stocks in the telecom sector. Idea Cellular share price was in focus today after it was reported that the Department of Telecom (DoT) is looking to raise a fresh demand of Rs 47 billion before it approves the merger.
Reportedly, the DoT insists on a Rs 47 billion towards one-time spectrum charges after Vodafone merged its entities in India, as a precondition to approve its merger with Vodafone India. This is set to delay the merger processes.
In 2015, Vodafone had merged its four subsidiaries Vodafone East, Vodafone South, Vodafone Cellular and Vodafone Digilink with Vodafone Mobile Services, which is now called Vodafone India.
Both Idea and Vodafone were expecting the merger deal to create India’s largest telecom company to be completed by June 30, 2018.
Notably, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular merger is set to create India’s largest telecom operator, surpassing Bharti Airtel Ltd. The top operator will have a revenue market share of around 37% and over 433 million subscribers.
The two companies were set to start operating as one entity from July 1 and for that to happen, the merger proceedings must be completed this month. Idea has called an extraordinary general meeting on June 26 to consider the proposals, including changing the name of the merged entity and raising funds of Rs 150 billion through debentures.
