Vodafone Idea, Airtel pay up Rs 9,000 cr dues for spectrum

Mumbai: Vodafone Idea, India’s largest telco by subscribers, and second-ranked Bharti Airtel, have paid spectrum dues worth over Rs 9,000 crore to the government recently, officials in the Department of Telecommunications said.

Vodafone Idea paid Rs 6,277 crore for the spectrum it had bought in auctions, while Bharti Airtel paid about Rs 2,800 crore, a senior DoT official said.

Vodafone Idea borrowed money to help clear the dues after the department rejected its request for a moratorium on spectrum payments. It proposes to repay the loans after a rights issue this month.