Vodafone cautioned in February that it will meet the lower end of its full-year earnings outlook as it faces mounting competition in the UK and India. The South Asian country's mobile market has become increasingly competitive in recent years, and experts believe the Idea merger is one way of seeing off competition from a new operator, Reliance Jio. Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said: "For Idea shareholders and lenders who have supported us thus far, this transaction is highly accretive, and Idea and Vodafone will together create a very valuable company given our complementary strengths." Shares in Vodafone were broadly flat in morning trading at 211.2p.