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Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has paid Rs 8,312.4 crore to the Department of Telecom towards dues for spectrum acquired in the recently concluded 5G auctions, the company said on Wednesday.

With the payment, Airtel has paid four years of 2022 spectrum dues upfront.

Airtel said it believes that this upfront payment, coupled with the moratorium on spectrum dues and AGR (adjusted gross revenue)-related payments for four years, will free up future cash flows and allow Airtel to dedicate resources to single-mindedly concentrate on the 5G rollout.

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs 43,039.63 crore.

"This upfront payment of 4 years allows us to drive 5G rollout in a concerted manner given our operating free cash flow. Airtel also has access to Rs 15,740.5 crore in capital from the rights issue, which is yet to be called.

"With the ideal spectrum bank, best technology and adequate free cash flow, we are excited to bring to the country a world-class 5G experience," Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said in the statement.

The company had an option to pay Rs 3,848.88 crore upfront and the rest in 19 annual instalments.

The country's biggest ever auction of telecom spectrum received a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of bids, with Mukesh Ambani's Jio cornering nearly half of all the airwaves sold with Rs 87,946.93 crore bid.

Over the last one year, Airtel said it has also cleared Rs 24,333.7 crore of its deferred spectrum liabilities much ahead of scheduled maturities.

Indian government bonds may be added to a global index next year, triggering passive inflows of about $30 billion that will help the country to finance its current account and fiscal deficits, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The nation’s sovereign bonds may be added to JPMorgan’s GBI-EM Global Diversified bond index with an initial 10% weightage, analysts Danny Suwanapruti and Santanu Sengupta wrote in a note to clients. India’s $1 trillion sovereign bond market is one of the biggest among emerging markets not to be part of any global index.

Goldman’s optimism comes even as the index inclusion has largely gone on the back burner after New Delhi desisted from making any tax changes for foreigners that would have helped Indian bonds settlement on international clearing platforms like Euroclear. The analysts wrote that both Chinese and Indonesian government bonds though not Euroclearable are part of the JPMorgan index.

“Adding India, which is a large, deep and high-yielding market, would help to diversify as well as boost the average yield of the overall index,” the analysts wrote. “Such a move would be beneficial to various stakeholders, including EM investors and the Indian government.”

Account openings for foreigners are still cumbersome in India but can be addressed by a longer lead time for inclusion, according to the note. The country has also made some progress on operational issues, like posting margin requirements and extended settlement timings, the analysts wrote.

Government bond yields fell sharply and the rupee notched up hefty gains on Wednesday as a steep decline in crude oil prices over the last few days eased concerns over high domestic inflation and India’s trade deficit, dealers said.

A decline in domestic headline retail inflation to a five-month low in July also bolstered the appetite for bonds, dealers said.

Yield on the 10-year benchmark 6.54 per cent 2032 paper was last at 7.21 per cent, 8 basis points lower than previous close.

Bond prices and yields move inversely. A decline of one basis point on the 10-year bond yield corresponds to a rise in price of around 7 paise.

At 10:00 am IST, the rupee was at 79.29 per US dollar as against 79.66 at previous close.

Bond and currency markets resumed trading on Wednesday after an extended weekend break as markets were shut on Monday and Tuesday for Independence Day and Parsi New Year, respectively.

Brent crude futures plummeted around 3 per cent on Tuesday, dropping to 6-month lows, as concerns over slowing global economic growth reduced demand for the commodity.

The most active Brent crude contract rose marginally on Wednesday, trading 0.1 per cent higher at $92.47 per barrel by 0035 GMT, Reuters reported.

From a 14-year high of around $140 per barrel in March, crude oil prices have cooled significantly, easing the pressure on India’s import bill and inflation.

“Rupee has opened on a stronger note today following a more than 5 percent decline in crude oil prices over the long weekend and the current risk on sentiment leading to a rally in US and Indian equities but expect some pressure on rupee from a weakening yuan,” Mecklai Financial Services wrote.