JOIN USReliance pays Rs 30,791 crore for all spectrum acquired before March 2021
Telecom Reliance Jio on Wednesday said it has paid Rs 30,791 crore, including accrued interest, to the Department of Telecom to clear the entire spectrum payment liabilities that the company acquired before March 2021 auctions.
The payments include the liabilities pertaining to the spectrum acquired in auctions in 2014, 2015, 2016, and the spectrum acquired in 2021 through trading of right to use with Bharti Airtel Limited, the company said.
"Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL)... has paid Rs 30,791 crore (including accrued interest) to the Department of Telecom towards prepayment of the entire deferred liabilities pertaining to spectrum acquired in auctions of year 2014, 2015, 2016 and the spectrum acquired in year 2021 through trading of right to use with Bharti Airtel," the company said in a statement.
The company had acquired 585.3 MHz spectrum through these auctions and trading. "The company estimates that the above prepayments will result in interest cost savings of around Rs 1,200 crore annually, at the current interest rates," the statement said.
Reliance Jio has cleared all dues even after the government gave the telecom operator the option to avail of a four-year moratorium on all spectrum-related payments.
RJIL had executed the first tranche of prepayment on the anniversary date in the month of October 2021 pertaining to the spectrum acquired in the 2016 auction.
Subsequent to Department of Telecom's decision in December 2021 providing the telcos flexibility to prepay their deferred spectrum liabilities on any date, RJIL has now prepaid in the month of January 2022, the entire deferred liabilities acquired in auctions in 2014 and 2015, as well as the spectrum acquired through trading.
These liabilities were due in annual instalments from the financial year 2022-23 to 2034-2035 and carried interest rates between 9.30 and 10 per cent per annum, with an average residual period of more than seven years.
Bharti Airtel last month paid Rs 15,519 crore to the Department of Telecom towards prepayment of the entire deferred liabilities pertaining to spectrum acquired in auction in 2014.
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