Bharti Airtel clears all dues for 2016 spectrum, prepays Rs 3,626 crore

Airtel has cleared dues from 2012 and 2015 auctions earlier this year

Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced that it has cleared all dues owed to the government for spectrum acquired in 2016, prepaying Rs 3,626 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). With this payment, Airtel has now prepaid all its spectrum liabilities with interest costs higher than 8.65 per cent, the company said.

 

In 2024, Airtel prepaid a total of Rs 28,320 crore in spectrum liabilities. In June, the company cleared all dues from the 2012 and 2015 auctions by prepaying Rs 7,904 crore to the DoT. On September 30, Airtel paid Rs 8,465 crore in dues for the 2016 auction. On Thursday, shares of Bharti Airtel closed 1.46 per cent lower on the BSE at Rs 1,709.90.

 

Rival Reliance Jio had cleared its outstanding dues of Rs 10,700 crore for spectrum acquired in the 2016 auction back in October 2021. Subsequently, Jio paid the accrued interest for spectrum purchased between 2014 and 2016 as part of a Rs 30,291 crore payment in January 2022.

 

The government had auctioned 2,354.55 MHz of spectrum across seven bands in 2016, with participation from Bharti Airtel, Jio, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, and Aircel. However, only 40 per cent of the spectrum put up for auction was sold due to high base prices.

 

The telecom reforms package of 2021 allowed telcos to convert the interest on moratorium principals into equity.

 

In November, the Cabinet waived the requirement for spectrum usage charges on spectrum acquired by telcos in six auctions held between 2012 and 2022. The spectrum auction rules of 2022 and 2024 had already removed this requirement.