Reliance Jio prepays all deferred spectrum liabilities worth Rs 30,791 cr  

Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) has paid Rs 30,791 crore including interest to the Department of Telecom (DoT) towards prepayment of the entire deferred liabilities for spectrum acquired in the auctions of 2014, 2015, 2016 and the spectrum acquired in 2021 through trading the right to use with Bharti Airtel. The company has acquired 585.3 MHz spectrum in these auctions/trading.
 
RJIL executed the first tranche of prepayment in October last year pertaining to the spectrum acquired in 2016. In December last year, the Department of Telecom (DoT) provided the telecom companies the flexibility to prepay their deferred spectrum liabilities on any date.
 
Due to this, RJIL has now prepaid the entire deferred liabilities acquired in 2014 and 2015 as well as spectrum through trading, it said. “Subsequent to Department of Telecom’s decision in the month of December 2021 providing the telcos the 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 auction in the year 2014 and 2015 as well as spectrum acquired through trading,” Jio said in an exchange filing.
 
It further stated that these prepayments will lead to costs savings worth around Rs 1,200 crore annually at the current interest rates. These liabilities were due in annual instalments from FY2022-23 to 2034-2035 and carried an interest rate between 9.30-10 per cent per annum with an average residual period of over 7 years.
 
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