Bharti Airtel’s board has approved the ‘first and final call’ of Rs 401.25 per share on 39.23 crore outstanding partly paid-up equity shares, representing the remaining Rs 15,700 crore portion of the company’s rights issue.

The proceeds from the call will be primarily utilised for pre-payment and repayment of borrowings, including accrued interest, and for general corporate purposes. The company said this move, along with strong organic cash generation, is expected to make its India operations effectively net debt-free in the near term, excluding Department of Telecommunications (DoT) liabilities and finance lease obligations.

In a regulatory filing on Thursday evening, Airtel said the board approved the final call of Rs 401.25 per share (including a premium of Rs 397.50) on 392,287,662 partly paid-up equity shares of face value Rs 5 each, with a paid-up value of Rs 1.25 per share, issued under the rights offer dated September 22, 2021.