Almost three years after it surprised the telecom industry by entering the 5G spectrum auctions, the Adani Group is exiting its only telecom spectrum holding by selling it to Bharti Airtel. In a deal announced on Tuesday, Bharti Airtel and its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom have entered into definitive agreements to acquire rights to use 400 MHz of spectrum in the 26 GHz band from Adani Enterprises-owned Adani Data Networks.

While neither company has disclosed the financial details of the transaction, industry sources estimate the value to be around Rs 155 crore. Under the department of telecommunications’ (DoT) spectrum trading rules, the acquiring company assumes the remaining government dues linked to the spectrum. Adani had bought the spectrum in the July 2022 auctions for Rs 212 crore, making an upfront payment of Rs 18.9 crore and agreeing to pay the balance over 20 years. Since then, it is estimated to have paid about Rs 55 crore, excluding penalties for not meeting rollout obligations.

Adani had initially acquired the spectrum with the stated intent of building private captive networks for its enterprise operations across ports, airports, logistics, and energy verticals. It had explicitly denied any plans to enter the consumer mobility space. The firm secured 100 MHz each in Gujarat and Mumbai and 50 MHz each in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.