Indian cos' foreign borrowings down 45 pc to USD 2 bn in Dec'19

Foreign borrowings of Indian companies fell over 45 per cent to USD 2.09 billion in December 2019 as compared to the year-ago period, according to the Reserve Bank data. Indian firms had raised USD 3.81 billion in December 2018, which included USD 37 million through issuance of masala bonds.

Of the total money borrowed by domestic companies during December 2019, USD 1.2 billion was through the automatic route of external commercial borrowing (ECB) and USD 840 million via approval route of ECB. The remaining USD 55.98 million was raised through the rupee denominated bonds or popularly known as masala bonds.

The borrowers taking the automatic route of ECB included HPCL-Mittal Pipelines (USD 262.5 million), HDFC Credila Financial Services ( USD 100 million), LIC Housing Finance (USD 200 million) and Toyota Financial Services India (USD 100 million), among others. Those who borrowed through the approval route were REC Ltd (USD 500 million) and Power Finance Corporation (USD 250 million), besides others.

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company was the only company to have floated masala bonds overseas to raise up to USD 55.98 million for on-lending, as per RBI data.

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