The corporation plans to raise up to $200 million of yen-denominated loans from the Japanese market.“The REC has given the mandate to Standard Chartered Bank for syndicating the loans,” said REC director (finance) HD Khunteta.
This is the first time that REC, which enjoys mini-ratna status, will raise funds through the ECB route. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently cleared the corporation’s overseas borrowing plan.
“We intend to raise the fund at a rate that is 47 basis points (bps) above the yen-linked six-month Libor which is hovering at around 0.60%. The total cost of borrowing, including the administrative cost of raising the loan, will be around 61 bps over yen-Libor,” Mr Khunteta told ET. Libor (the London inter-bank offer rate) is a primary benchmark for interest rate around the world.
“REC had earlier raised resources from multilateral funding agencies like Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) or Germany’s KfW Bankengruppe. But this is the first time we will borrow directly from the overseas market on commercial terms,” Mr Khunteta said.
Funds raised through ECB will be used for REC’s core activity to finance and promote rural electrification projects across the country. REC also provides financial assistance to state electricity boards and state government departments.
The RBI has for the first time allowed REC to take this route, given the less than encouraging domestic money market scenario. Earlier, the central bank had barred the company from raising funds through this route.
REC, which is a fully-owned government enterprise, could mobilise only Rs 300 crore from the domestic bonds market despite having announced a Rs 500 crore issue. Market observers said the issue did not get full subscription as bond investors preferred to wait on the sidelines amid a cautious market sentiment. Top officials at REC had in December 2006 told ET the company was looking to raise nearly Rs 2,000 crore by this fiscal.
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