Reliance Communications has fully repaid a syndicated external commercial borrowing (ECB) loan of $500 million or Rs 3,100 crore.

The telecom operator has now fully liquidated its borrowings from 23 foreign financial institutions, according to a press statement.

Last year, RCom repaid two other ECB loans worth $1 billion and bilateral debt of more than $310 million.

The move will bring down net debt at the Anil Ambani-controlled company, from Rs 41,500 crore as on September 30 to Rs 38,000 crore.

RCom has been trying to reduce its overall debt through organic growth and monetisation of non-core assets. Recently, the company deactivated 10 million of its ‘low-end subscribers at the lowest end of the ARPU range’.

It has also signed multi-billion dollar deals with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio for lending its towers and optical fibre infrastructure. In December 2012, RCom had entered into an agreement with Wanda, China’s leading real estate group, to lease out its land assets in Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad.

The RCom scip was up by 1.19 per cent to close at Rs 131.7 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

comment COMMENT NOW