NEW DELHI: Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has made a pre-payment of Rs 3,626 crore to the government for the spectrum it purchased in 2016.
This payment is part of Airtel’s efforts to clear its spectrum dues with high interest costs. With this payment, Airtel has now prepaid all its spectrum liabilities with interest costs higher than 8.65%. This year, the company has prepaid a total of Rs 28,320 crore of spectrum liabilities.
“Prepaid Rs 3,626 crore to the Department of Telecom (Government of India), clearing all its liabilities for spectrum it had acquired in 2016,” said the telco in an exchange filing.
Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom service provider, said this is the second prepayment the company has made in the current financial year. In June 2024, the company prepaid all its deferred liabilities for spectrum acquired in the 2012 and 2015 auctions, amounting to Rs 7,904 crore. Airtel acquired spectrum worth `8.67 crore in 2012 and Rs 29,129 crore in the 2015 auction.
Earlier this year, in January 2024, the company prepaid Rs 8,325 crore to the telecom department to clear part of its deferred liabilities for the spectrum it acquired in the 2015 auction.
Airtel has consistently worked on prepaying its spectrum-related dues over the past few years. In July 2023, the company prepaid Rs 8,024 crore to the DoT, and in March 2022, it cleared `8,815 crore for airwaves bought in the 2015 auction. This was followed by a significant prepayment of Rs 15,519 crore in December 2021, which cleared all dues related to spectrum purchases in 2014.