Bharti Airtel announced today that it has prepaid an additional Rs 5,985 crore towards high-cost spectrum liabilities linked to the 2024 auctions, which carried an interest rate of 8.65%. With this move, the company has now fully repaid all liabilities carrying interest rates of 10%, 9.75%, 9.3%, and 8.65%.
The telecom giant has made cumulative prepayments of Rs 66,665 crore in spectrum liabilities till date. Notably, these prepayments were done nearly seven years ahead of their average residual maturities. For FY25 alone, Airtel has prepaid Rs 25,981 crore in high-cost liabilities.
This proactive approach has significantly reduced Airtel’s average cost of debt on residual spectrum dues (excluding AGR liabilities) to 7.22%, with outstanding spectrum liabilities of approximately Rs 52,000 crore extending up to FY 2042.
In a parallel move, Airtel’s subsidiary Network i2i Ltd. voluntarily called and redeemed $1 billion worth of USD Perpetual Notes, originally issued in FY2020 with an interest rate of 5.65%. Following this, Airtel now has around $479 million in perpetual notes outstanding, which are callable in FY2026.
These actions reinforce Airtel’s financial prudence and commitment to reducing debt burdens while strengthening its long-term financial outlook.
