Tata settles $7.3 billion of dues to complete sale of mobile business to Bharti Airtel

India’s Tata Group paid lenders and the government about 500 billion rupees ($7.3 billion) to help complete the sale of its mobile-phone services business to Bharti Airtel Ltd., a deal that was announced almost two years ago. Tata Sons Pvt., the group holding company, paid the Department of Telecommunications 100 billion rupees late last month, days after settling all pending loans worth 400 billion rupees owed by unit Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd., the Mumbai-based group said.

“All debt obligations of the consumer mobile business of Tata Teleservices have been repaid as per schedule,” a Tata Group spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. The disposal of Tata’s phone business was part of an industry consolidation triggered by the entry of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. in 2016. The new operator with deep pockets stormed the market with free calls and cheap data, forcing many of the incumbents, already struggling under a pile of debt, to exit or merge with rivals.