Airtel prepays over Rs 22,000 crore of domestic loans

KOLKATA | MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel has prepaid over Rs 22,000 crore of rupee-denominated domestic loans to multiple banks using a majority of the carrier’s Rs 25,000-crore rights issue proceeds, people familiar with the matter said. The payments will sharply reduce Airtel’s net finance costs and free up capital to expand its 4G network and buy spectrum in the next auction to take on Reliance Jio more effectively.

The Sunil Mittal-led telco has prepaid a loan of about Rs 6,000 crore to Axis Bank, and cleared additional loans, aggregating upwards of Rs 16,000 crore to other local banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, a person with direct knowledge told ET. These