In [300]: df.loc[df['colA'] == 'a', 'colC'] = df['colB'] df['colC'] = df['colC'].fillna(0) df Out[300]: id colA colB colC 0 0 a 13 13 1 1 a 52 52 2 2 b 16 0 3 3 a 34 34 4 4 b 946 0