Airtel stated on Friday that it has prepaid Rs 8,815 crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) to clear deferred liabilities towards spectrum acquired in auction in 2015. The company said that the prepayment is for instalments that were due in FY2027 and FY2028. 

The telecom giant said that in the last four months it cleared Rs 24,334 crore of its deferred spectrum liabilities, which is much ahead of its scheduled maturities. “These liabilities carried an interest rate of 10% and have been paid off through a combination of strong free cash generated by business, equity proceeds and significantly lower cost debt of similar tenor,” it said. 

The company added that it continues to focus on financial flexibility through its capital structure including optimising cost of financing, and capitalising on all opportunities of significant interest saves, like this prepayment tranche.