Bharti Airtel has prepaid Rs. 83.25 billion ($1.00 billion) to the Indian government’s Telecom Department to partly clear deferred liabilities for airwaves it acquired in a 2015 auction, it said late yesterday.

The payment had an interest rate of 10 percent, India’s second-biggest telecom services operator by subscribers said in an exchange filing.

Airtel had bought spectrum worth Rs. 291.29 billion in the auction, paying Rs. 78.33 billion upfront, according to a Reuters report.

It subsequently prepaid Rs. 88.15 billion and Rs. 80.24 billion in March 2022 and July 2023, respectively. Bharti Airtel faces dues worth Rs. 100 billion rupees — Rs.120 billion for the 2015 auction —  it said in an investor meet in November 2023.

However, the company did not disclose how much more it would need to pay to completely clear these dues.