Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) and its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom Limited, have prepaid an additional Rs 5,985 crores to the Department of Telecom (DoT), Ministry of Communications. In a statement on Wednesday, the company announced that this transaction fully settles its high-cost interest liabilities of 8.65 percent related to the 2024 auctions.
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Total Spectrum Liabilities Cleared to Date
"Airtel has now prepaid Rs 25,981 crores of high-cost spectrum liabilities for the current 2025 fiscal year and has cumulatively prepaid spectrum liabilities of Rs 66,665 crores as of date," it said in a statement.
Airtel had earlier fully prepaid liabilities with interest rates of 10 percent, 9.75 percent and 9.3 percent.
These prepayments have resulted in Airtel clearing Rs 116,405 crores of scheduled instalments that would have otherwise been payable on their respective dates over the original tenure of the liabilities.
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Reduction in Interest Rates
The company stated that it has consistently prepaid high-cost obligations, reducing its average interest rate from 9.74 percent to approximately 7.22 percent on the remaining Rs 52,000 crores of spectrum dues (excluding AGR dues), which are payable until FY 2042. These prepayments, made seven years ahead of schedule, have eliminated Rs 116,405 crores of future instalments.
Network i2i's USD Perpetual Notes Redemption
Additionally, Airtel's subsidiary, Network i2i Limited, has voluntarily redeemed USD 1 billion in USD Perpetual Notes issued in FY 2020, which carried a 5.65 percent interest rate. Following this, the company retains USD 479 million in perpetual notes from FY 2021, callable in FY 2026.
"Airtel continues to prepay its high-cost spectrum liabilities, lowering its debt and cost of debt," the company said.
