The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is currently examining Bharti Airtel’s application for the conversion of statutory dues into equity, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told CNBC-TV18 on Wednesday. The request is also being reviewed by the Ministry of Finance, he confirmed.”Bharti has submitted an application for equity conversion which is being analysed by both the DoT and the Ministry of Finance,” Scindia said, adding that the company has exercised its right like any operator can.
“Every operator has the right to ask us for equity conversion. Bharti has exercised that right. We are examining it, and the Finance Ministry also will have to examine,” he stated.
Scindia noted that he will take a view on the matter once the analysis by the DoT is complete. Bharti Airtel’s move comes under the government’s relief package for the telecom sector, which allows telcos to convert interest on deferred dues into government equity.Bharti Airtel formally approached the DoT earlier this year, seeking the conversion of its deferred government dues into equity under the 2021 telecom reforms package. The request is part of the company’s broader strategy to reduce debt and seek parity in the implementation of relief measures across the industry.Under the reforms, telcos were offered a four-year moratorium on spectrum and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, along with the option to convert the interest portion of deferred payments into equity. The moratorium is set to end by September 2025 for spectrum dues and March–April 2026 for AGR dues.Airtel has also undertaken significant prepayments to reduce its liabilities. Last month, it prepaid ₹5,985 crore (approximately $698 million), fully clearing its high-cost dues from the 2024 spectrum auctions. This brought down its total spectrum-related debt to ₹52,000 crore, lowering the cost of debt to 7.22%.So far in FY25, the company has prepaid ₹25,981 crore and has cumulatively prepaid ₹66,665 crore of spectrum liabilities—most of which were high-interest payments made nearly seven years ahead of schedule. These prepayments have helped Airtel wipe off over ₹1.16 lakh crore in scheduled instalments that would have otherwise been due through 2031.
