Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecom carrier, made an early payment of Rs 3,626 crore ($426.4 million) to the Indian government on Thursday, clearing all of its liabilities for the spectrum acquired in 2016.

In September, India's No. 2 telecom provider paid Rs 8,465 crore to settle its liabilities.

Bharti Airtel owe the government substantial spectrum fees after years of high-stakes auctions and aggressive bidding for airwave rights.

Bharti Airtel said it paid a total of Rs 28,320 crore in spectrum liabilities in 2024.

In June, the Sunil Mittal-backed telecom operator also prepaid all of its deferred liabilities for spectrum bought in the 2012 and 2015 auctions, when interest rates were higher at 9.75 percent and 10%, respectively. The remuneration for these auctions totalled Rs 7,904 crore.

Earlier this year, Airtel payed Rs 8,325 crore to the government, settling some of its delayed liabilities for spectrum obtained in the 2015 auctions. Airtel acquired 111.6 MHz of spectrum in 2015 for Rs 29,130.20 crore, with an advance payment of Rs 7,832.58 crore, in accordance with the auction guidelines at the time.

Bharti Airtel's shares on the BSE closed practically flat at Rs 1,599 each on December 19.