Telenor is reported to have paid INR98 billion (US$1.8 billion) of debts owed by its Indian affiliate Uninor, after some of its lenders issued default notices.

According to the Economic Times, Telenor said that “one of Uninor’s shareholders has repeatedly refused to fund the company through its own funds and has also actively worked to stop the majority shareholder from doing so”.

Telenor owns around 67 percent of the Indian operator, with real estate firm Unitech holding the rest.

The Nordic-based group said that Uninor has been relying on “short-term loans from Indian and international banks that were fully guaranteed by Telenor”. Extensions on some of these loans were refused, meaning Telenor has acted directly to fulfil its guarantees.

Uninor is currently at the heart of an ownership dispute, with the company being one of those affected by the Indian authorities’ cancellation of a number of licences earlier this year.

India’s Company Law Board has issued an order prohibiting the sale of Uninor’s assets, after Unitech said that Telenor was looking to transfer assets from the business to another company, to split from its current partner before bidding for new licences.

Telenor recently said it is looking to focus Uninor’s activities on its most profitable regions, in order to speed its path to self-sufficiency.