NEW DELHI: Idea Cellular declined 2 per cent on Wednesday after DoT rejected its plea along with that of Vodafone India to revisit their dues.The Department of Telecommunications said its numbers are fine and Indias second- and third-largest telcos should pay up to get a final seal of approval on their merger at the earliest.
The stock fell 2 per cent to hit a low of Rs 51.40 on the BSE.Under a conditional merger nod given two weeks ago, DoT demanded Rs 7,268 crore upfront payment as dues.
It is split between a bank guarantee of Rs 3,342 crore on account of one-time spectrum charges claimed from Idea, and cash payment of Rs 3,926 crore towards market price for non-auctioned airwaves held by Vodafone India.
The completion of the deal has already crossed the deadline of June-end set by the two companies.
Among other conditions, Idea needs to replace Vodafones bank guarantees worth Rs 6,452 crore held by DoT with its own.