Bharti Airtel, along with its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom Ltd., has prepaid an additional ₹5,985 crores to the Department of Telecom. Thereby fully prepaying the high-cost interest liabilities of 8.65% pertaining to the 2024 auctions. Furthermore, Airtel’s subsidiary Network i2i Ltd. has proactively called and redeemed $1 billion in perpetual debt securities.
Demonstrating a commitment to financial prudence and operational efficiency, Airtel has now prepaid a total of ₹25,981 crores in high-cost spectrum liabilities for the current fiscal year (2025) and has cumulatively prepaid ₹66,665 crores to date. The average interest rate on these cumulative prepayments stands at approximately 9.74%. The company has previously addressed liabilities with interest rates of 10%, 9.75%, and 9.3%. These prepayments have occurred roughly seven years ahead of their average residual maturities.
This proactive approach has allowed Airtel to eliminate ₹116,405 crores of scheduled installment payments that would have been due over the original tenure of these liabilities. Subsequently, the company has reduced its cost of debt on spectrum liabilities to an average of about 7.22% on the remaining ₹52,000 crores of spectrum liabilities, excluding Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) liabilities. The remaining spectrum debts are structured with a long-term repayment profile, extending until FY 2042.
In addition, through the redemption of $1 billion in USD Perpetual Notes issued in FY 2020, Network i2i Limited has exercised its call option. These perpetual notes were originally structured without a defined maturity, carrying an interest rate of 5.65%.
Following this redemption, Airtel will retain approximately $479 million of perpetual notes from FY 2021, which can be called back in FY 2026. This suite of financial maneuvers positions Airtel favorably, reinforcing its capital structure and enhancing its balance sheet resilience.
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