Bharti Airtel announced that it has prepaid ₹5,985 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), settling its high-cost spectrum liabilities related to the 2024 auctions. These liabilities carried an interest rate of 8.65%. This payment is part of the company’s ongoing plan to reduce its overall debt burden and lower financing costs.
As of 1:03 PM on March 27, Bharti Airtel share price was trading at ₹1,731.75, down ₹6.80 or 0.39% for the day, but up 4.93% over the past month and 41.39% over the past year.
With this latest transaction, Airtel has prepaid ₹25,981 crore worth of spectrum dues in FY25. In total, the telecom provider has cleared ₹66,665 crore of spectrum liabilities so far, including amounts with interest rates ranging from 9.3% to 10%. These payments were made nearly seven years before their average due dates.
Following these prepayments, the remaining ₹52,000 crore of spectrum liabilities now carry an average interest rate of 7.22%. These dues will be repaid annually until FY2042.
Separately, Airtel’s subsidiary Network i2i Ltd. has voluntarily redeemed $1 billion worth of USD perpetual notes. These notes were issued in FY2020 and carried a 5.65% interest rate. After this redemption, $479 million in perpetual notes remain outstanding. These remaining notes were issued in FY2021 and include a call option in FY2026.
In addition to financial restructuring, Airtel also received four penalty notices from the Department of Telecommunications:
These penalties, totalling ₹9.23 lakh, are related to alleged violations of subscriber verification norms during CAF audits conducted by DoT, as per the reports. In some cases, the company has chosen to pay the penalty without contest, while in others it plans to seek rectification.
Bharti Airtel has made early payments of both domestic and international liabilities, reduced its financing costs, and responded to regulatory issues. The company now carries lower-interest dues and a longer repayment horizon.
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Published on: Mar 27, 2025, 1:45 PM IST
Team Angel One
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