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ShareKolkata: Srei Infrastructure Finance plans to raise funds from banks and financial institutions within the country (DIs), rather than go for overseas debt.
Thus, it seems to have put on the backburner its plans to raise a second round of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) of around $100 million. This is because domestic interest rates have softened and the company feels it is cheaper to raise funds from within India than to look overseas.
"We will take a decision on the ECB in February-March, 2010," Sunil Kanoria, vice-chairman, Srei Infrastructure Finance, told DNA Money. The company, which is looking at a disbursal of around Rs 7,500 crore in this fiscal, had earlier said that around 4,500 crore of this quantum was being raised through various instruments, of which the ECB component was to have been around 25%. Kanoria declined to specify to what extent the ECB component would stand reduced.
In March, Srei had tied up a $100 million ECB with Netherlands-based bilateral private sector development bank FMO. The loan was intended to boost the infrastructure project and equipment finance businesses.
Srei is expecting a 15-20% growth in its disbursals in the second half, having disbursed around Rs 4,200 crore in the first half. Of that, the infrastructure business accounted for Rs 1,400 crore while the balance was from the equipment financing business.
Kanoria said the next half is important for the company since the lending season generally peaks due to several reasons -- it's the post-monsoons period, there is growth potential in the market and infrastructure projects are starting to get off the ground.
Of the Rs 4,200 crore disbursals, the share of the infrastructure business was Rs 1,400 crore while the balance could be attributed to its equipment financing business.
